SPHR
by GuffeyManipulation
Summary: School has started at Beacon academy, and Teenagers all over Remnant have come to train. Follow the antics of Team Sapphire as they make their name known.
1. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

_I wish everybody would stop staring at me_. Sable thought, as he carried his duffel bag across the street. He had walked to the Beacon Port from his home in South Vale, and there were plenty of glancing eyes when they see a teenage boy with a sword sheathed to his side. Luckily though, the looks it earned him were better than being questioned by a cop, after all. Sable shrugged to himself as he looked up at the large Airship that was going to take him to Beacon. There were hundreds of other kids walking onto the ship, a variety of colors not usually seen. Most were leaving their families, or going up in groups.

He put his hand on the hilt of his sword, feeling more assured to know that he was armed going in. It took a few moments of building confidence before Sable lifted the bag back up to his shoulder and climbed up to the ship. He brushed past the crowd, searching for a place on the side where he could wait out the ride to Beacon. When he found a place that seemed a bit deserted, Sable dropped his bag onto the floor and sat down next to it. His sword laid at an awkward angle against his leg in this sitting position, so, beside his own thoughts, took the sword and sheathe from his weapons belt and placed it on top of his bag. His arm laid on top of it as he let his head tilt back onto the cool metal and closed his eyes.

* * *

"We are so proud of you!" Paris smiled as he parents looked back at her in the back seat of the car, her father through the mirror, and her mom leaning back over the armrest. Her mother was beaming in joy, happy to see her daughter able to finally achieve what she had been working so hard to complete. She was going to Beacon.

Paris smiled back at her. "Yes, mom. I know, I know. You've said it ten times since we left!" Paris couldn't help but be happy though. After years of training, she had finally made it! Her father parked the car on the side of the road, right in front of the Airship Port. He leaned back to look at her as well.

"Paris, you worked hard for this, and you more than deserve it. You know that your mother and I both love you, and are behind you on whatever decision you decide to take." She laughed.

"Thanks, Dad." They all got out of the car, moving to the trunk. Paris' Father opened it to reveal a bag inside and a small gun case sitting inside. She grabbed the large bag, and put it on her shoulder, holding the case in her other hand. When she turned to look back at her parents, she found them beaming at her, practically in a gleeful bliss. She smiled back, before looking past them at the filling Airship. She looked back at them, smiling larger than she had ever seemed to before. Before she knew what was happening, she found herself dropping her belongings, and hugging both her parents in her arms. She gave a quick laugh before she brought herself back at arm's length. She quickly started to smooth out her pantsuit, even though she was still incredibly happy.

"Well, that didn't seem rather professional, did it?" She looked back at them with a smile.

"We love you, Paris." Her father said before putting her bag back on her shoulder, and the case back in her hand. He then nudged her past them, towards the Airship.

"Go become a Huntress. The best one you can be." She smiled back at them for a second before quickly setting off to the large aircraft. Paris could feel the tears start to seep from her eyes, and she didn't want to let them out.

* * *

"You sure you have everything?" Her father inquired, looking at her from the parking spot near the Beacon Port. Hazel smiled back at him with a smirk.

"I should ask you the same thing." He gave a loud laugh. She smiled at her father, knowing that he'll do fine without her. They had needed each other over the years, took care of each other, but he'll figure out to live on his own. They both got out of the old truck, going to the back where Hazel's two suitcases were strapped down. They both started undoing the bungee cords, taking the bags and putting them at Hazel's feet. When both of them were out of the back, Hazel's Father picked them all up and threw them in the passenger seat of the car. He came back to find Hazel sitting on the open back of the truck(they had never been able to find the back door after the Cross Country trip) watching other teenagers as they left their friends and parents to go up to the large Airship. He put his hand on her shoulder, able to look his daughter in the eye when she was sitting up on the car.

"You're ready for this." He pointed at the hundreds of kids that were in the port. "None of them have ever met you before, but by the end of the year, your name will be echoing in their minds. You will surpass every last one of them, without a doubt, and you'll do it with style." She smiled at her Dad, silently laughing as her head dropped.

"Thanks, Dad." When she looked back up, she could see him smiling at her before he stepping out of her way, showing her the view to Beacon. She didn't hesitate as she jumped down to the ground, picking up the bookbag and putting it on her back, and started pulling the larger one behind her. She took three steps before turning around and putting her hands around her Father's large chest, giving him a hug. He accepted it gladly, before pulling her off, and pushing her to the Airship. She smiled back at him as she left. He last glimpse before she turned to the ship was her father waving to her, a huge smile on his face, and tears glistening in his eyes.

* * *

 _I wonder what Beacon will be like?_ , Reece thought as he sat back in his bus seat. He had his bag under his sneaker as a foot rest, and his weapon's case sitting in his lap. He stared out the window, hardly recognizing anything around him. He grew up and lived in a small village outside the city, only making small trips to buy gear for a Huntsman's work. Reece smiled as he saw Beacon out in the distance, quite literally the "beacon" it is named for. He slowly pulled his feet back to his chair, stretching from the long bus ride as the large vehicle came to a stop. He picked up his bag from the floor, and held it in his right hand, the box in his left. He was already at the door when the bus driver opened them. He gave a rather sarcastic bow to the driver that earned him laughs from several of the passengers, and even the driver himself. Reece then stepped off the bus, lugging his belongings over to the large Airship. When he approached the crowd, he weaved in between groups of other students, leaving their past lives behind to attend Beacon. Reece barely paid any attention to them as he climbed up into the ship.

When he was inside, he quickly scanned the large room for the most comfortable place to be. Most of the other Teenagers to get on had found places near the back of the ship, far from the door. He laughed as he saw a large heating vent only a couple feet from the doorway. He quickly placed his two bags on the floor next to it, and sat down, leaning his back against the grate. He nearly purred in approval of himself as the warm air flowed over him.

* * *

Sable slowly opened his eyes as he felt the Airship touch the ground. He had spent the entire flight with his eyes closed, feigning sleep so he wouldn't have to deal with any of the other Students to be. When he looked around, he found the crowd already moving to the doors. Sable sighed before standing up, strapping his sword back to his belt and picking his bag back up. He quickly slipped into the crowd, happy to be unseen by anybody that entire time.

When he made it outside, the first thing he saw was Beacon, the enormous school that he would be living in for the next 4 years. He stopped to look back at the crowd as he realized that he was gaping, but honestly, he wasn't the only one. There were various "Ohhhh's" and "Ahhhh's" from the others around him. Sable hefted the bag on his shoulder before moving through the crowd to make it to the front. This crowd was moving too slowly, and he wanted to get inside. He found various student with the same idea as him, separated from the large mass in smaller groups or by themselves as they quickly walk to the doors. Sable weighed the thought of slipping into one of the groups, but decided it wasn't worth risking. He would walk in alone.

* * *

Paris sat up from her gun case, ceasing the 30 minutes of checking her nails. The Airship had just landed, and the doors were about to open. She scanned the mass, seeing the entire group standing around the doors, waiting for them to open. She then saw the stragglers that sat alone. Most of them were heading for the door, but there was one that caught her eye. A boy, literally sleeping near the back door. Paris glance back at the crowd to see most of them already outside, going to Beacon. When she looked back at the boy he had not even noticed. Paris rolled her eyes as she walked over to him. She walked across the large room, going to stand over him. He was leaning back against a heating grate, his arms over a bag on his left and a weapons case on the right.

He was wearing a pair of navy sweatpants, matching his zip up hoodie, and a white T shirt. Paris kicked him in the foot, not hard enough to hurt, but enough to wake him up. The boy slowly opened his eyes and looked up at her with a lazy smile.

"Now this is quite the sight to wake up to. What's up, beautiful?" Paris raised her eyebrow at his audacity.

"You, in a moment. We just landed at Beacon, and you better not make me regret helping you." He gave a laugh before standing up, holding his baggage in his hands. Paris watched him for a moment before turning, and walking to the open doors. She made it halfway before the boy caught up and walked next to her.

"Hey, don't be like that. It was only a joke." She glanced at him with a wary look before they climbed down from the ship. When they were down on even ground, he stood in front of her, putting out his hand with a smile.

"I'm Reece." He watched him for a moment, unsure whether or not to make a friend out of this boy. She decided when she put down her case and took his hand.

"Paris Undret, nice to meet you." He smiled as he picked the bag he had dropped to shake her hand, pulling it onto his back from a strap. They walked into Beacon together.

* * *

"This year is gonna be gonna be great, I can feel it!" Hazel smiled and laughed warmly as she sat in a circle with the group of people she had brought together. She had found some of the people that were sitting alone, and took them all with her before making a little clique.

"Yeah, I mean, how could you not be excited? We're going to Beacon, for damn sake!" They all laughed together, already comfortable with each other, even though it had only been half an hour. The view had been fantastic for the ride, which is why they were sitting on the floor next to one of the huge windows, but since the Airship was landing, they weren't paying much attention to it anymore.

"Hey, it looks like everybody is heading or the doors. We should start getting ready." They all agreed, starting to stand up and gather their things. Hazel stood, but as she started to lean down to get her bookbag, one of the guys was already picking it up and giving it to her. She smiled at him as he handed it to her.

"Thanks, Stef." He gave a wide smile and nodded back.

"It's nothing." They were watching each other a little too long before Hazel turned back to the others, pulling her other bag behind her. They joined the crowd, walking together as they joked around, heading for the large building across the Campus. Hazel half paid attention to the group she was in, and more to the beautiful campus. There were large modern buildings that had clean brick walls. The walkways were lined with large trees, but there was no debris around them. The large school building was an amazing sight on its own, the huge structure reaching high into the sky.

 _This is going to be a fantastic place to live._ Hazel thought happily. She then felt a nudge to see the other had been watching her gape. Her face lightly reddened in embarrassment as the others laughed. She quickly joined in on the laughing.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on, we should get inside."

* * *

 **Hey guys, GuffeyManipulation Here! This is the 3rd story so far on my profile that I've written, and I am incredibly hyped for how it's going to go! I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter, and that you'll stick around for the rest of the story. Lemme know how you like it in the Reviews, and I'll see you next time!**


	2. Chapter 2: Airborn

"I'll keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you're finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people, but I look among you, and all I see is wasted energy. In need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you from this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only bring you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." With that, the old man stepped down from the stage, a woman taking his place at the microphone.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready, you are dismissed." Sable didn't know who the man was, and what gave him the power to talk in front of the students, but he seemed… Solid. Yeah, solid. Like he had been doing this for a long time, and was very in depth with the routine. He followed the group to the ballroom, where everyone was going to set up their spots to sleep.

* * *

Reece smiled mercilessly at just about everything and everyone, though he didn't know the damage he could be causing with it. He walked beside Paris, his hands held at the back of his head. They had all already put their bags and things in the Ballroom, so he didn't have to worry about carrying them around. He glanced at Paris to find her frowning distastefully at the Students that were already getting their sleeping bags set up.

"What's up with you, Pantsuit?" She gave him a death glare in response.

"I'm sorry if I don't find sleeping on the floor to be a desirable stance of action. And don't call me that." Reece laughed warmly.

"Alright, Pantsuit." He quickly scanned the large room until he found a spot right under one of the large windows that wasn't occupied. He nudged Paris and pointed to the spot.

"Come on, I found the best spot." He ignored her starting to argue, and walked over to the spot. When he stopped, he was already checking the bottom of the window until he found what he was looking for. He didn't notice as Paris stood behind, tapping her foot as she watched him proceed with the unintelligent looking act.

"What are you doing?" He continued searching as he answered.

"IIIIIIIIII aaaaaaaaam loooooooookiiiiiiing for…. This!" He smiled happily as he pointed at the corner of the window. Paris rolled her eyes as she went over to see what he had found. She spoke as she leaned down to see what it is.

"What are you talkin- Oh!" She reared her head back as the flow of cold air hit her face. She looked at him in astonishment as he started putting his sleeping bag right under the window.

"How did you…?" He looked up at her with a smile from his bag.

"The windows were the only place I could find that vented the outside air, the only thing left I needed was where there was a crack in the window." She couldn't believe that he had been smart enough to think of that. When she had met him, she assumed that he was a deadbeat that would waste his life sleeping.

"You gonna sit down, orrrrrr?" She had found herself staring at the crack in the window, and looked back at Reece.

"Yeah, sorry, yeah." Paris pulled a light blue sleeping bag from her bag and laid it on the floor next to Reeces. She then went through her bag until she found a pair of black sweat pants and a tank top. She glanced at the other boy, finding him staring at her.

"What?" She barked unintentionally. He shrugged, but didn't look away.

"Nothing." She stared at him a moment longer before standing up again.

"I'm going to go change." Paris made a beeline for the girl's restroom, hastily escaping Reece's stare. He laid with his back against the wall, watching her as she hurried to the restroom. He didn't know why she was so disturbed by his watching her.

* * *

Hazel walked the Ballroom, now alone from the group she had created on the Airship. She had ditched them at the speech from Professor Ozpin. He seemed much more condescending than she thought he would be. Hazel's eyes flicked among the Students, searching for anybody left alone. All the students had already found friends among the others on their own, so much of the chatter was coming from all the newfound groups getting to know each other.

It appeared as though all the others had already found their groups, though, so she ceased her search. Hazel had surely looked at everyone, and made sure they had their people. She then saw a group of girls sitting together, laughing as they spoke to each other warmly. She smiled and walked over to them, her bags in tow. When she stood in front of them, they all stopped their talking and looked at her. She smiled and waved.

"Hi, I'm Hazel. I don't really have anyone to hang out with, so can I just chill with you guys." They quickly welcomed her to the group.

* * *

Sable sat on one of the benches in the locker room, his sword in his lap, now unsheathed. He was cleaning the blade with one of his rags while other students walked about, preparing their weapons as well. He ignored them silently, in his own world as he wiped off every nonexistent piece of debris. He finally looked up from his blade when he heard the lady that had spoke last night over the school speakers.

"A final reminder: All first year students assigned for the first Initiation must be outside on the cliff within the next 15 minutes. I repeat; All first year students for Initiation one must be outside in 15 minutes." Sable silently slid the sword back into its sheathe on his belt before walking straight to the door leading outside. He was one of the last to join the group at the cliff before the woman from yesterday started speaking.

"Would you all please find a plate on the round to stand on." On the ground were nearly 20 square plates with the Beacon Insignia on them. One for every student in the first initiation. When everybody was ready, the man from last night start speaking.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors. Today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest. Here at Beacon, we teach students to work in units, Teams are what we call them. These Teammates will be with you for your next four years at Beacon, so I suggest you choose wisely. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." I could hear whispers of complaint and disbelief, and they were well deserved. This was a childish way to decide partners in Sable's mind. He waited for the man to laugh and retract this statement, but he did no such thing.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to northern end of the forest. You will meet oppoition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

 _Unlikely, and probably untrue. They wouldn't let anybody die on a school official exam._ Sable thought.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned Temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we will grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" Nobody made a sound. He nodded in approval.

"Good, now take your positions." All the students started standing in positions seemingly for combat, but it was no such thing. Sable had already figured out that each of these plates would launch a student into the forest, and was not surprised to see the first guy launched into the air. One by one, every student was flung into the air until Sable was the only one left at the back. He felt the gears turning in the ground under him was prepared when he was suddenly airborne, flying through the sky. Sable looked down at the forest, trying to figure out any notable landmarks, but was unable to find any while was was gaining altitude like this. He then waited until he was at the peak of his climb before going into an eagle position. He was now able to survey the forest for miles, and many miles away, he did see a large clearing that was sided by a large ravine. He pinpointed that location in his mind as he started diving through the air.

* * *

 _FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!_ Hazel thought as she flailed through the air, desperately holding on to her naginata with all her might. She was barely able to figure out up from down before she had made it to the peak of her climb. She seemed to float for a second, and in that time, Hazel attempted to even out. All she actually succeeded in doing was figuring out which way was up and down. She started to barrel to the ground with little grace at all. Luckily, just as she was about to fall into the tree line, she activated her Aura.

A multicolored force field appeared at her feet. She noticed just in time to go in feet first, breaking through the first layer of branches with ease. The second and third layers were a little more painful. Her aura forcefield deactivated as she lost her moment of focus, letting her barrel through the branches, at an admittedly much slower, but still rather painful rate. She fell to the ground from a low branch with a pained grunt. She laid there for a moment, just waiting for the bleeding to start, but to her amazement, it never did. She slowly sat up before checking her body slowly. She was bruised and sore, but there weren't any actual injuries on her body. She sighed in relief before standing up, leaning on her spear for support for a second before pushing into a walk north. At least she hoped it was north.

* * *

Paris flew through the air with expertise, head first to the sky before flipping down into her descent. She looked down at the ground far below calmly as she fell through the sky, hands and legs out to slow her fall. She had started to plan her landing strategy before she heard a voice.

"How are you so serious, even now?" She looked to her left to see Reece falling beside her, but he looked like he was sitting in the air, one hand neatly in his pocket, the other holding a crossbow to his shoulder. His jacket and hair were flying all about, but he didn't seem the bit disturbed by it.

"How can you look so comfortable?" A sarcastically contemplative look crossed his face as he started to spin around through the air, seemingly at his own will.

"Dunno! But you might want to look at the ground now, you're about to hit a tree." Paris looked down in fear as she saw the tree line coming much closer than before. Reece had wasted all her time to make a plan! She quickly saw the tallest tree and spun towards it. Her hands flicked into her pantsuit before she had two small knives in her hand. As she approached the tree, she went to the right of it, slamming the daggers into the trunk. She held on to the small blades as they held her on the tree, pulling her to a grinding stop in the air. She swung back in forth with the wind, hanging onto to knives as hand holders to the tree. Paris examined the tree quickly before losing her grip on the knives. She was unlucky to find that there were barely any branches until nearly the bottom. When she fell, she flicked two more knives from her suit and into her hands before driving them into the tree. she then dangled again, but this time, she didn't wait to lose her grip. She quickly put her feet into the bark, finding footholds to stay put.

When she felt safe enough, she began climbing down. She thrust the two knives she had from the trunk before smalling them back in as handholds, going down farther and farther until her feet were on the highest branch. From there, she just released the knives, leaving them embedded in the tree. Very slowly, Paris climbed from branch to branch until she dropped to the ground, more throwing knives held in her hands. She was crouched down, stealthy and deadly as a tiger as she searched for any enemy.

"Very nice landing, Pantsuit." The knife was outstretched and in motion before Paris knew who it was. She was able to pull her aim off just in time before the blade went flying at Reece. There was a moment of silence. Reece, who was leaning against a nearby tree, slowly looked to his left, where the knife Paris had just thrown was embedded in the trunk of the tree. He, very slowly, raised his hand and pulled on the knife's hilt, bringing it out of the tree. He held the tiny object in his hand for a moment before he glanced at Paris, who was staring in surprise at the boy she had almost just killed.

Reece acted in a single motion, flicking the knife along his knuckles before he flipped it into the air. It went up a couple feet before coming back down in Reece's grasp, holding it lightly. He smiled at Paris' disbelief, walking over to her. He held the weapon out to her, hilt out, with a smirk.

"I guess we're partners now, Paris."

* * *

Hazel trekked through the forest easily. She had been sore from the fall for a while, but it soon passed as her Aura took care of the pain. She twirled my spear in my hands as she walked. Hazel had assumed that some kind of Grimm would attack her in at least thirty minutes, but so far there had been no signs of life. Just trees and grass as long as the eye could see, which in this forest, wasn't very far. She sighed tiredly before she heard a loud roar nearby. She smiled, finally hoping for some kind of action.

 _Ursai._ She thought. She started jogging towards the sound. As she got closer, she could hear the growls and grunts of intimidation and brawling. _Are two of the Grimm fighting?_ She thought. She started to run a little bit faster, hoping to get a good view of the fight. Luckily, she was able to kneel into a group of bushes just outside where the Grimm were. She pushed them aside slowly to see what she thought was two Ursai roaring and growling at each other in a small clearing. Hazel soon saw that they weren't growling at each other, they were growling at a person in between them. She squinted to see a boy wearing a black leather jacket, a Charcoal gray shirt, and slate grey jeans standing in the middle of them, brandishing a beautiful sword in his right hand.

She gasped at the wonder of a sword, perfectly crafted in every way. The blade was flawless steel, shining all the way to the hilt. In the middle of the blade was an obsidian center, that seemed to mold into steel as it moved to the sharp blades. The hilt was intricately crafted with black thorns around the crossguard and wrapped leather as the handle. It was one of the most perfectly made weapons she had ever seen. She was staring at the sword when the Ursai charged the boy. He held the sword to his right, obviously prefered to that side, and started sprinting to the Ursa farther from Hazel. Without a second thought, Hazel burst from the bushes, rushing the Ursa that the boy had neglected.

"Hey! Stink Breath!" The Grimm she was looking at turned his head to look at her before roaring and turning to charge her. She ran at the large grimm before jumping right as they connected. The naginata in her hands twirled in her left as she brought it slicing over the beasts back as she sailed over it. When she landed on the other side, she quickly turned to fight the beast, but she was too late. The moment she had turned, the Grimm was already there. She had just enough time to block with her spear before it batted her with it's paw. The power was enough to knock her straight off her feet and sailing right into a tree. She hit it with a loud grunt before falling onto her butt on the ground.

Her head was dazed from the hit, so her vision was a bit blurry when she looked up. The boy was fending his Grimm off on the side of the clearing, his sword holding the Ursa's teeth back from biting his head off. The Grimm she had been fighting was slowly stalking towards her. She still held her spear, but she could barely handle it, much less fight. She stared at the Ursa as continued to walk towards her. She wondered if she would die here. Her first day at Beacon and she died helping a boy fight off a couple of Ursa. Her dad would never think of her well again. Her daughter, with so much confidence, dying for a mistake in her first contact with Grimm. The Ursa was ten feet away, each foot thumping down painstakingly slow. She stared into its red eyes as it growled in anger. She would die here. She continued to stare as the Sword, the beautiful she was mesmerized by only a minute ago slit across the beast's neck, cutting straight through it's throat. She gave a quick laugh of relief as the Ursa fell to the ground in death, the boy from before straddling it with his sword held back. She looked at the boy happily, her vision clearing enough to see him staring back at her.

And their eyes met. It took a moment, but she saw the boy's eyes widen in realization and quickly jumped down from the beast. He walked over to her quickly, sheathing the sword in his belt. He got down on one knee and squatted next to her.

"Are you alright?" Hazel stared up at him before nodding slowly.

"Yeah, I'm okay." She started to sit up, against her better conscience. The boy helped steady Hazel as she started to stand, and let her lean on him for a moment as she got back on her feet. She quickly, pushed off him, letting herself stand straight, despite her throbbing head. She went over to the tree that she had been lying on to find her weapon lying on the ground. She squatted down to get it, holding it in her hands as she twirled it a bit, testing her movements. When she was sure that she would still be able to fight, she turned back to the boy. He was staring at her, waiting it seemed. She took a deep breath and held out her right hand to him.

"Hi, I'm Hazel." He looked down at it, slowly taking it and lightly shaking her hand.

"I'm Sable. Thanks for the help." She gave her best smile.

"It was nothing." He nodded.

"Yes, it was." She raised her eyebrows, but he had already turned and pointed to a parting through the trees. "The temple is a couple more miles in that direction." Sable then glanced back at her. "Can you make it that far?" She shrugged, still trying to be happy with the situation.

"Yeah, I'll make it." He nodded.

"Good. I don't want you slowing me down." With that, he started walking at a brisk pace through the forest. Hazel was forced to follow.


	3. Chapter 3: Team Sapphire

"So, where did you live before coming to Beacon?" Hazel and Sable had been walking at a brisk pace towards the Temple for nearly an hour. Hazel had been quiet since the incident with the Ursai. She had been working hard to keep up with Sable, and had been able to match his pace. She had been tired of the awkward silence between them, and had tried to start a conversation. Sable didn't look at her as he answered.

"What does it matter? When we complete this Initiation, we'll live at Beacon." She rolled her eyes.

"I guess it doesn't matter." She waited a minute or so before asking her next question. "So what's the plan for when get the relic?"

"I can't make a plan when I don't know what the relics are." Hazel tilted her head to the right a bit.

"What do you mean?" Sable stopped and sighed, turning to look at her.

"The relics could be the size one of those Ursai, the challenge being that we would have to move them to the cliff. The relics could be tiny, so we'll have to search for them while we fight Grimm. The relics could be-" Hazel raised her hand and interrupted him.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it." He nodded, turning to continue his walk to the Temple. Hazel gave up on her attempts to befriend this boy. her best bet would be impressing him in combat.

 _Maybe he'll lighten up a bit after that._ She thought. They continued their walk to the Relics for another fifteen minutes before the saw a large clearing ahead. Hazel smiled and sped up her pace, happy to finally be done with the incredibly boring walk, but Sable stayed back, watching Hazel as she stopped at the edge of the clearing. When Sable made it to her side, she was crouching down, squinting to see what was there.

"It looks like there's a ruins near the other side." Sable said, but he didn't move from where he was standing. Hazel stood up with a smile.

"Then it shouldn't be a problem! It looks like there's no Grimm out there." There wasn't a second afterward before a loud screech pierced the air. Sable spoke grimly.

"You spoke too soon." Just above the trees above the two of them, a large Nevermore flew right into the clearing, gliding above the ground before it started to climb higher into the air, taking refuge on a high cliff above the ravine. There were destroyed ruins in the ravine under the large Grimm, but they looked as if they would fall down into the gorge. Sable stared up at the perched Nevermore, attempting to devise a plan.

"What do we do?" Hazel whispered, as if the Nevermore could hear her from where it was. Sable stared a few moments longer before shaking his head.

"I don't know." Sable studied the clearing around the small ruins on the other side. He assumed that this was what the man was talking about at the launch, which meant that the Relics were going to be there. The only problem was that there was nothing to provide cover around it whatsoever.

"What's up, guys?" Hazel jumped up with a loud shriek as she heard the voice right beside her. She swung blindly with her Naginata, nearly severing her partner's head. At the last second before the blade could hit Sable, he put his hand up and caught just below the metal, stopping the weapon an inch from his face. He gave Hazel a cold glare as she looked for the source of the voice. When she looked behind her, there kneeling where she had been was a boy with a crossbow and quiver, smiling up at them. It wasn't a second later before a girl came bursting from the bushes behind him, stumbling down to the ground.

"Aw, fuck. Reece, why'd you just take off like that?" She then started to stand up, brushing her suit off as she looked up, now seeing the duo that her partner had scared. There was a moment of awkward silence before Hazel pulled her weapon from Sable's grasp, holding it at her side with her left hand.

"Uh, hi?" Reece saluted her from where he was still sitting on the ground.

"Hello, my fellow Huntress!" She looked down at him with an annoyed look before glancing at Sable, who this entire time had just been watching them with his arms crossed. When he caught her eye, she sent a silent plea for help before he gave a confused shrug.

"If you guys are also looking for the Relics, they should be right over there." He pointed to the ruins at the other side of the clearing. The girl in the pantsuit stepped over her partner to stand beside him, looking over the clearing at the structures.

"Alright, what's keeping you two in here." There was another screech from the Nevermore, just on pointed up at the large Grimm.

"That is." Paris looked up at the bird before coming back into the trees with an annoyed look.

"How are we supposed to get past that? Got any ideas, Reece?" She looked down to where her partner had been sitting, to find him not there anymore. She looked around for a second, but couldn't find him. She finally looked at the other duo to find Sable looking out at the clearing. She followed his gaze to see Reece walking happily across the clearing. She rushed to the edge of the brushery.

"Reece! What the hell are you doing?!" She yelled. He looked back, but continued walking backwards.

"I'm going to the Relics!" He yelled back. She opened her mouth to yell back, but she was interrupted by the Nevermore landing right behind Reece. The three of them froze, watching Reece as he looked over his shoulder at the giant Nevermore. It was easily ten times his size, probably more. He turned around to look up at the giant bird just as it screeched at him. It's roar created a wind that pushed his hair back, but he smiled up at it nonetheless. They stared at each other for a solid 3 seconds longer before the Nevermore snapped forward at a lightning fast speed. Luckily, Reece was faster as he rolled to the left, out of the way of the beak, with a single motion he brought his crossbow up and fired right into it's left eye. Nevermore screeched in pain as it pulled it's head up taking flight quickly. Sable sighed.

"Looks like there's no avoiding this fight." He then ran out of the brushery, straight out of cover, to stand beside Reece. From where the girls were, all they could see was Sable unsheathe his sword beside Reece. They seemed to exchange a few words before they looked up at the Nevermore as it circled overhead, they appeared to be preparing for combat. Hazel looked back at the girl to see her pulling knives from the inside of her jacket and sliding them into her sleeves before pulling two out and held them in her hands. She glanced at Hazel.

"Well, we can't just let them kill themselves without help, can we?" With that, she ran out to join them. Hazel stared at their bravery in awe before twirling her Naginata once, running out to stand beside them. When they were all there, Hazel yelled over the Nevermore's screech.

"Any plans?" Reece responded calmly as he cocked another bolt into his crossbow from the quiver strapped to his back.

"Kill the Nevermore?"

"Three of us will fight the Grimm-" He looked at the new girl. "You go for the Relics, grab two of them and find cover in the forest."  
"Paris. My name is Paris." Sable rolled his eyes.  
"Paris will get two relics and hide in the forest." He ignored her annoyed look. "Then, when the three of us can, we'll escape the fight. No way we can take on a Nevermore of that size." He glanced at Reece. "Even if it has one eye."

Reece smiled cheekily at the given credit, but kept his eyes on the Grimm above. There was a few seconds of silence before Sable noticed the Nevermore coming back.

"Now!" Hazel, Sable, and Reece all charge forward, brandishing their weapons as Paris ran straight to the ruins. The Nevermore dived down at the three Hunters, accepting their challenge. As it neared them, it's claws stretched out to grab any of them. Hazel jumped to the left of the attack, slashing up the bird as it passed. Reece jumped to the right, sending a bolt right into the bird's flank. Sable, being the bravest of the three of them, stood his ground. As the claws came down to grab at him, flipping the sword in his hand as he jumped up at it. He stabbed right in the chest of the bird, holding on to his sword as he was brought up to the sky with the Nevermore. The Grimm screeched in pain once more, pulling up into a backflip in a desperate attempt to lose the unwanted rider. Sable was silent and calm as he pulled his sword from the bird's chest, allowing himself to ride the birds momentum to it's neck, flourishing and slicing his way to the back of it's neck. When he made it to his destination, he clung to it's back, slamming his sword back into it's flesh as a handhold.

* * *

Paris ran as fast as she could to the ruins. She could hear the fight behind her, the giant Nevermore screeching in pain as the others attack it. The ruins weren't far, so Paris only had to run another 20 feet before she stepped onto the carved stone of the ruin. She looked around desperately to see chess pieces around her, a few gone, but not many. She desperately took two of the horse looking pieces and started charging for the forest. She risked a glance back to see the girl and Reece running after her. The girl was running with all her might, but Reece was running backwards, his crossbow pointed to the sky as he sent bolt after bolt up at the Nevermore, cocking them in incredibly fast. She then turned back at the forest as she hit the brushery. She instantly dived in, hiding behind some of the bushes. Reece and the girl joined her seconds later. Paris panted nervously.

"Where's your partner?" She said to the girl. When Paris saw her looking out at the clearing, she followed her gaze to the Nevermore, but there was something wrong. As the Nevermore flew around recklessly, there was something flying about on it's back. _It was the boy._ She gasped in fear as the Nevermore made a low sweep to throw him off, and finally succeeded. The boy pulled his sword from the Grimm's back at the lowest point, allowing his momentum to throw him forward through the air. With the extra rider off, the Nevermore took off, escaping the pain he brought. He landed in a tumble basically at the feet of his partner, rolling straight into the brushery. When he finally stopped rolling, he pushed himself to his back, the three other gathering around him. He was soaked in sweat, panting as he looked up at them. The girl kneeled over him with a scared expression on her face.

"Sable? Are you alright?" He nodded slowly. Reece kneeled down next to the guy, his crossbow once again held up at his shoulder. He smiled happily down at Sable.

"That, my friend, was the most badass thing I have ever seen." Paris rolled her eyes as she handed one of the Relics to Hazel.

* * *

"Sable Mortem, Paris Undret, Hazel Arguere, Alexander Lassus." The four Hunters in training stood in a line in front of Professor Ozpin. "The four of you retrieved the White Knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as Team Sapphire, led by Sable Mortem." Sable lifted his head a bit higher. He hadn't expected a leadership role on his team, but was sure that he was the only one capable to do it. The four of them were briskly dismissed to allow the next Team to climb the stairs to the stage, so they found their places near the back of the room. It was another 3 teams before Sable felt his partner nudge him. He looked at Hazel to see her pointing at the door, where Reece was walking out, Paris in tow. He rolled his eyes as he allowed himself to be dragged by Hazel outside. When they had gotten out of the doors, they found Reece and Paris standing outside the doors. Paris had her arms crossed, looking away from her partner, who was leaned against the wall, waiting for them.

"Why did you drag us out here, Reece?" Sable said, tapping his foot. Reece smiled happily, pushing off from the wall.

"No point in waiting around in there for the ceremony to end, and I thought we could do something fun." He then pulled a bottle from behind his back. Paris instantly grabbed it out of his hand in anger. He opened his mouth in complaint, but stopped when she cocked her fist back, bottle in hand.

"If I hear the words "spin the bottle" from your mouth, there will be consequences." Hazel slowly pulled the bottle from her hands.

"Alright, let's all just calm down." She pointed the bottle at Reece accusingly. "No, we are not playing spin the bottle." She then pointed it at Paris. "And no, you cannot hit him for suggesting it." Paris crossed her arms with an annoyed look on her face, but Reece looked calm as ever, not even fazed by the situation. He put his hands on the back of his head lazily.

"Well, I'm still not going back in there." Hazel couldn't believe how tense the situation had become so quickly. She glanced at Sable to see him watching them in silence, waiting for the argument to end. Hazel quickly raised her hand, which inexplicably still had the bottle in it. When she noticed, she quickly threw it in a nearby trashcan.

"Look, we all obviously met on pretty bad terms, considering the Giant Nevermore and all, so how about we get to know each other a little bit better." When she heard no complaints, Hazel took it as an agreement. "Okay, good. Now let's-" She was cut off as the doors to the auditorium opened, the other students starting to stream out. The Hazel looked at the crowd and then smiled at Reese.

"Looks like the Ceremony just ended, so we'll have plenty of time in our new dorm. Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4: First Day

They had followed the crowd of students to the dorm building, where various teachers had showed the teams to their dorms. When a large teacher with a larger mustache had showed them to their dorm, they quickly went inside to investigate their new quarters. The dorm was a single room with four beds facing the door from the back wall. On the side and front walls, there were separated desks with matching chairs. Sable walked to the bed in the far corner, placing his single bag on top of it. Reece went to the other far bed, forcing the girls to take the middle beds. Once everybody had gotten comfortable, Hazel started the conversation from where she sat cross legged in the middle of the room.

"Alright, what do we want to know about each other?" When nobody said anything, Paris spoke up from one of the desk chairs.

"What were your lives like before coming here?" When, once again, nothing was said, Hazel spoke in response.

"Well, I lived in an apartment with my dad in Downtown Vale. I went to a public school down there and took combat classes during the nights. My dad and I didn't have much, but we had each other." When Hazel was finished, she looked at Reece, who was sitting back against his bed on the floor, his hood up over the top half of his face.

"Reece, what were you up to?" When she got no response, Hazel glanced at Paris to see her shrug, also confused. "Reece?" He said nothing again. Sable spoke from where he was laying back on his bed, his eyes closed in rest.

"He's asleep." Hazel raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"What?" He opened a single eye, looking at Reece on the floor.

"Hey, Reece!" He yelled. The boy jumped up from on the floor, the hoodie bouncing back onto his back as he looked around in fear.

"What? What?" When he saw everybody staring at him, he brushed his jacket back down and smiled at them.

"Sorry, took a nap there. What're we doing?" Paris sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"We're all saying what we were doing before we got to Beacon." He smiled and looked up with a nostalgic expression.

"Those were the days, man. I left my home and got on a bus that took me to the Airships. Then-" Paris interrupted him.

"You can't be serious." He looked at her with a shrug.

"Of course I can't." When he didn't earn any laughs, he actually thought back. "Okay, well, let's see. I lived in a small village called Calpuka outside of the Kingdoms. Technically we're Vale territory, but they didn't do shit for us. With the attacking Grimm, somebody had to protect the everybody else, so I stepped up and became the defender of the people, loved by everyone, and getting ass every ni-."

"Just stop. Please." Everybody looked at Paris as she interrupted Reece. She was just staring at him with an incredibly annoyed look on her face. "We all know that you're lying, so why bother making such a ridiculous story?" Reece smiled cheekily as he pulled out his Scroll. Everybody watched him silently as he started scrolling around before his smile pulled even farther. He threw his device to her happily, her catching it in the right hand with a raised eyebrow. When she looked down at it, Hazel looking over her shoulder, it showed him taking a self with a smile, a huge statue of himself right behind him. The statue portrayed him holding his crossbow high as he slammed an arrow into a Beowulf's skull.

"Keep scrolling." Reece said. Paris scrolled to the right a couple times to see more pictures of Reece standing with his statue before she found a picture of the inscription on the base.

"Alexander Reece Lassus, The Savior of Calpuka, and A Saint Among Men." Reece mouthed every word as Paris spoke them. She glanced up at him with a wary look.

"That has to be fake." He grinned as got up and plucked the scroll from her hand.

"Don't be so quick to judge people." He went back to his bed and sat down on it horizontally, sitting back on the wall. "Who's next? Paris?" She gave him a sarcastic smile before she stood up, starting to pace.

"Alright, let's see. I've lived with my mother, father, and brother in a house just outside Vale, in a little suburban neighborhood. I went to a private school just inside the city that taught me everything from Economics to Woodsland Survival. I played on the baseball and volleyball teams for my school, and was a mathlete as well. I've always wanted to be a Huntress because they were always the best, and everybody knows it. That's why I'm going to be a Master Huntress." Everybody stared at her, even Sable, when she stopped. She glared at them. "What?" Hazel and Sable looked away, but Reece continued staring.

"If you're an athlete, why do you wear a pantsuit?" She rolled her eyes.

"Looking professional makes yourself seem more mature in the eyes of others." He stared at her a moment longer before shrugging.

"Alright, whatever floats your boat."

"You are literally the lamest person I know." He put his hands up.

"Didn't you hear the Hero thing?"  
"Yeah, right. I don't believe it."

"Well, sucks that you don't believe the truth." Hazel cut in when she saw that Sable still wasn't doing anything.

"Guys, come on. There's no point behind this." The Paris glared at him for a second longer before looking away again. Reece, once again, with a very slight smile on his face. When the silence persisted, Hazel turned to her leader.

"Hey, Sable. What did you do before Beacon?" He sighed, his eyes closed still.

"I already told you in the forest. It doesn't matter." Hazel rolled her eyes.

"It can't be that bad, just tell us." He was silent for a moment before finally speaking.

"We should probably get some sleep. Classes start tomorrow." With that, he turned onto his side, away from the others. The three of them shared a look in silence before they all went to sleep as well, abiding by their leader's word.

* * *

 _ **REET REET REET REET REET.**_ The alarm clock was a rude awakening for Hazel, her eyes flashing open at the first beep. She pitched forward, punching at the air before accidentally sending herself right off the bed and onto the floor.

When she started to get up, she saw Sable rubbing his head, sitting on the side of his bed. He already had his sword(still sheathed) in his hand, obviously surprised by the alarm as well.

"Who set an alarm?" Hazel complained to nobody in particular.

"I did." She looked to the bathroom to see Paris walking out in her uniform, brushing her hair. "We still have classes today, so I decided to wake you guys up." She said. Hazel groaned back in response. Paris looked at the others starting to get up before she saw Reece still in bed, faced to the wall.

"Reece, come on!" He didn't make any sign of hearing her. Sable brushed past her, walking to the bathroom. Hazel went to the alarm on Paris' desk and finally shut it off. After a few more seconds of calling, Paris started to get fed up with him and picked up one of her flats, throwing it at him. It hit him directly in the back of the head, causing him to groan in pain, his hand appearing from under the blankets to rub the bruise. He then rolled over to look at the others up and getting ready.

"What's up, Pantsuit?" She glared at him.

"Get up, we've got classes in an hour. And seriously, stop calling me that." He shrugged.

"That gives me an hour of sleep before classes." He said, rolling to face the wall again. She sighed, turning to continue getting ready for class. The shower turned on in the bathroom as Sable got in. Hazel started gathering her clothes from her bag, as well as her toiletries as Paris returned to brushing out her hair at her desk. Hazel looked at Paris out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey, Paris. Why do you think Sable wouldn't tell us anything about himself?" Paris looked over at her, thinking for a moment before shaking her head.

"I'm not sure. Maybe he regrets who he was before being accepted here?" Hazel bit her lip, still not sure what to think of him.

"What would he regret?" Hazel asked.

"I don't know, maybe he made some bad decisions the Headmaster doesn't know about?" She said.

"You think he was, like, a drug addict or something?" Paris shrugged.

"Maybe." There was a moment of silence before Paris placed her brush on the desk. "Either way, Sable's right. Who we were before Beacon doesn't matter. What matters is who we are now." Reece chuckled from his bed.

"You're just mad cause I was awesome." He said in a singsong voice. She growled and threw her other shoe at him, earning her another grunt of complaint from the boy. Hazel smiled at them. Paris was annoyed with him, but she thought there was a sense of playfulness. Paris obviously had a lot of patience, and could handle the endless suffering that Reece's presence seemed to give her. Hazel shook her head, going back to her own things. Once she had her things together to get ready, Sable was getting out of the bathroom, ready to go. She jumped in behind him. For the next hour, Sable, Paris, and Hazel walked around the small dorm getting ready for school while Reece slept in the corner. Nearly 10 minutes before the four of them had to go, Reece finally got out of bed and dragged himself into the bathroom. After nearly 3 minutes inside, he came back out, completely refreshed and ready for school. Paris glanced at him in a mixed expression of disbelief and respect, but he didn't seem to notice. They were all standing around the door with their school supplies 5 minutes before they needed to leave. Sable looked everyone in the eye, but didn't say anything as he opened the door and led them to their first class.

* * *

"You will all be taught about various versions of Grimm that walk Remnant this semester." Team SPHR sat near the back of the room, in some of the higher seats near the door. As soon as they had walked in, Reece had walked them over to the seats and planted himself in the one he deemed "Worthy of a throne." The teacher walked in a moment later. She was a tall Faunus woman with black hair and matching black furred ears, and couldn't have been older than 30. She was wearing a midnight blue skirt with a black top. The woman had started the lecture as soon as she had made it to her desk, starting to pace in front of it.

"I will be your professor for the remainder of your time this year, so you all might as well get used to looking at this face. You may call me Professor Belladonna, or better yet just Professor. Now, let's begin, shall we?" She then started talking about Grimm and their biological differences. Paris paid attention to every detail, as well as Sable, who seemed to be watching the teacher more than listening to her. Hazel was sitting back in her seat, but was still listening for any important pieces that she might have to write down. Reece on the other hand, was sitting back in his seat, staring up at the ceiling as he waited out the lesson. When Paris noticed this, she elbowed him to catch his attention. He dropped his head to look at her.

"What?" He whispered. She jerked her head at the teacher, to signify that he should listen.

"Ms. Undret, is it?" Paris looked back down at the teacher to see her with a Scroll in her hand, looking up at her. Paris nodded.

"Yes, Professor Belladonna?"

"Was there a reason you were speaking with your friend there?" She pointed at Reece. Paris opened her mouth to speak, but Reece beat her to the punch.

"She was trying to tell me to pay attention to your lesson, cause i wasn't listening." Silence enveloped the classroom. The rest of his team was staring at him in surprise, but he was just staring down at the teacher with a calm smile. She glared back at him with a cold frustration in her eyes.

" , was it?" She looked down at her watch as soon as he nodded. "It has been exactly 11 minutes on the first day of my class. Have you already decided that you don't need to know what I am going to teach you?" He nodded.

"Yeah, I know what I need to know to kill Grimm." She nodded seriously.

"Alright. Then could you tell me the primary weakness of the Boarbatusk?" She started tapping on her scroll until a picture of a Boarbatusk came up over the board behind her.

"The eye, of course." Reece said with no hesitation. The Professor smiled.

"No, Mr. Lassus, that would be a secondary weakness, it being a less popular target for it's much smaller size, especially for this particular Grimm, which has borders in it's mask that protect the eye, making it an even smaller area." Reece then leaned forward.

"No offense, Professor, but I primarily shoot for the eye." There was a string of sarcasm on the word "primarily." The teacher glared up at him, tapping on her scroll without looking. On the left wall, down where the Professor's desk is, a space opened up. A cage rolled out of it, an enormous Boarbatusk standing inside, growling at all the students. She pointed a hand out at the Grimm.

"Would you like to provide an example for your "Unique" targeting?" Reece looking down at the Grimm with a sigh, standing up.

"Alright, sure." He sauntered down the middle stairs, the eyes of all the students either on him or the large Grimm. Hazel leaned over to Sable.

"Is it legal to have Grimm this close to this size of a crowd?" He shook his head.

"I have no idea." Reece smiled at the professor as he passed her, heading for the locker rooms that were connected to the room. It was a minute later before he walked back out with his crossbow in hand, the quiver gone from his back, only a single bolt in his crossbow. He hadn't even changed out of his school uniform. He walked over to the teacher, who was standing by her desk.

"So how're we doing this?" The Professor pointed to the other side of the bottom floor area from the caged Grimm.

"You'll start over there. I will release the Boarbatusk, and you two will battle. Should you lose the fight, I will be supervising to handle to situation." He chuckled, heading over to the spot.

"Thanks, Professor, but I'll be fine." She watched him as he stood in position, his crossbow in hand.

"The fight will commence in three. Two. One." On the last word, she tapped her scroll, releasing the latches on the cage. The Grimm burst out, charging straight for Reece. He calmly watched it as it sprinted at him. At the last moment Reece crouched down and rolled left, slicing right with his Crossbow as it passed, causing it to squeal in pain. There was a line of blood that came from the hog as it rounded about, roaring as best it could before rolling up into a ball, and charging for him. He was down on one knee as he shot his one bolt at the spinning force. The arrow flew right into the Grimm, causing it to squeal in pain again and come out of it's ball, but it continued charging. Reece's eyes widened as he jumped down onto his back, preparing himself as the boar jumped ontop of him, trying to tear into him with it's tusks, but being held back with his crossbow. His bolt had landed inside the Boar's left eye, just in between it's eye and it's guard, nearly a millimeter off target. He glared into it's eyes as he held it back, trying to push it off. Reece made a final attempt to push it off, pushing straight up with the bow, causing to hog's front hooves to lift from the ground and come up above his head. While it was presenting its stomach, Reece saw a flash of light before the boar squealed highly before falling ontop of him, now dead. Reece was still for nearly 3 seconds before he pushed the Boarbatusk to the side. He sat up, panting as he looked down at the Grimm. It was only a moment before he reached towards it, pulling a knife he had seen before from it's bare stomach. He held it in his hand before he looked up at the crowd to see Paris standing on her desk, another knife in her left hand. The Professor was also looking up at the source of the blade, glaring silently. Paris stepped down from the desk, looking down at the teacher.

"The Boarbatusk's primary weakness is it's unarmored stomach, where the flesh is completely exposed. When trying to kill one, you should wait until after it's spinning attack when it's trying to back onto it's feet, where it's most vulnerable." The Professor stared at her a moment longer before looking at Reece.

"That is your partner, I assume?" He nodded silently, starting to stand up. "Then I will give you some advice. Listen to her, or you will not succeed like she will."


	5. Chapter 5: Unexpected Surprise

"How could you have lost your homework?" Reece shrugged from where he sat on his bed.

"Not even sure I got it in the first place." Paris threw her hands up, returning to the work she was doing at her desk. Reece glanced to his right to look at her, but then looked back up and closed his eyes.

"Have you done any homework since school started?" Sable didn't look up as he said that. Reece shook his head.

"Nope." Sable gave no reaction as he continued to read. Hazel returned to the dorm a moment later, waving to friends on the other side of the door as she came in. She instantly turned to the others.

"We need to do something as a team." The three of them looked at her.  
"What do you mean?" Sable said, now looking up from his book.

"I mean, we need to do something as a team. It's been three weeks and we've done practically nothing together."

"We go to classes together." Reece said. Paris shrugged.

"I think it's a good idea." Hazel looked at the others pointedly.

"It's a good idea. The only way we're going to be able to work together is if we start doing things together. That means, actually being social." She looked at Reece with raised eyebrows. He looked at her distastefully, but sat on the side of his bed anyway.

"Fine, I'll do it." She then looked at Sable. He had been watching her since she had come in.

"Do you really think this will help us as a team?" She nodded.

"Yeah, I really do." He watched her for a moment longer before shutting his book, getting off his bed.

"Then, let's do something." She looked at Hazel. "What would we do?" She shrugged.

"Anything we want." Paris looked down at her homework, then back at Hazel.

"I want to do this homework." Hazel sighed.

"Isn't that due next week?" Paris nodded. "Then you can do it later!" Hazel pulled Paris out of her chair before turning to the guys.

"You two coming or what?" Reece nodded, putting his hands in his pockets as he followed Paris to the door. Sable walked over to his desk chair, pulling his leather jacket off before walking to the door, throwing it on his back. Hazel smiled happily as she followed him out. They walked out of the dorms together, but three of them stopped when they got outside. Hazel almost left them behind before stopping as well, turning to them.

"What's the holdup?" Reece scratched his chin.

"What are we going to do?" Hazel shrugged.

"I don't know, how about we go out for lunch?"

"I know a good diner in Vale." Paris said.

"Then let's just go there." Sable said, walking ahead of the others. He didn't bother looking back to see if the others were following him, but after a couple seconds, they did jog after him.

* * *

They walked off the Airship an hour later. Reece stretched his arms, having been sitting for the past 45 minutes.

"Alright, where's the car?" Paris shook her head.

"Don't have one, but it doesn't matter. It's not far." Reece groaned.

"Define "Not far."" She glared at him again, punching him in the arm.

"Stop being an ass." He rubbed his arm, but followed her as she started walking. They walked a couple blocks before Paris stopped in front of a small diner on the corner of a four way street.

"The New Vale?" Sable said, glancing at Paris. She nodded.

"Yeah, they make a fantastic burger." Paris said, opening the mahogany door and walking inside. Reece and Hazel followed her inside quickly, but Sable hesitated for just a second before he walked in behind them. When they got inside, they started looking around, not many people inside, but enough to take about half the tables. A waitress saw them walk in, and stopped by with a few menus.

"Four?" Paris nodded with a smile.

"Yes, just four."

"Alright, if you would follow me." She then walked to one of the booths, placing the menus on the table. She pulled out her pad as they sat down.

"Can I get you four some drinks?" Hazel spoke first.

"Just water for me."

"I'll take a Volcano Dew." Paris said.

"I'll take a PHD Peppy." Reece said.

"Water. Thanks." Sable said as he looked down at his menu for only a moment before putting it back down on the counter. The waiter smiled at them as she closed up her pad and left. It was a moment longer before the waitress stopped by again with their drinks, leaving to attend to the other customers. Hazel looked up at the others over her menu.

"Anybody have any ideas for what you want to get?" Paris spoke she put her menu back on the table.

"Choose what you like, I'll handle the tab." Sable glanced at her, but didn't say anything. Reece put the menu down a moment later.

"I'm going to get the bacon burger." Paris glanced at him, but he just shrugged when he noticed.

"You said they make a good burger." She nodded, putting down her menu as well.

"They do, that's why I'm going to get the burger as well." Hazel and Sable continued looking at the menu for another minute or so before the waitress came around again. Paris and Reece ordered their meals, and then Hazel put her menu down.

"I'll take the caesar salad." Waitress nodded, writing it down. When she looked at Sable, he just handed her his menu.

"I'm not going to get anything." She watched him for a second before picking his menu up, as well as the others, and left briskly.

"I don't mind if you get something, really." Paris said to Sable, but he just shook his head again.

"I'm just not hungry." She opened her mouth to convince him, but he just put up his hand. "I'm not hungry." Paris closed her mouth with a nod. There was a few moments of awkard silence before someone said something.

"So what's everybody been up to since school started? I feel like I barely see you three, so you must be up to something." Hazel said. Reece opened his mouth to speak, but Paris put a finger in his face before he could.

"You have done nothing since school has started, don't even try to say you've done anything." He scowled.

"Well, neither have you. All you do is train, or do homework." Reece said.

"Untrue! I've visited my friends in the city a couple times. I've invited you to come with me!" She raised her eyebrows at him accusingly, but he just shrugged.

"I don't remember this." Reece said nonchalantly.

"You tried to invite him. He wouldn't wake up for you to ask." Sable said while he cleaned his fingernails. Paris nodded in triumph.

"Right, I forgot! When I came in to ask, you were asleep and refused to get out of bed!" Hazel laughed as he shrugged.

"Well, that's on you for not waking me up." She shook her head in disbelief.

"I can't believe you." He smiled in success as he sat back.

"Sable, what've you been up to?" Reece said. Sable looked at him before returning to his nails.

"Training, Weapon upkeep. I'm thinking about making something pretty soon." Hazel tilted her head at him.

"What do you mean?" She said. He put his arms back down on the table.

"I create weapons." She raised her eyebrows at him. "You know, swords, mauls, knives." Hazel shook her head.

"No, I'm just surprised. I mean, making your own weapon is a pretty regular thing at Beacon, but just making weapons for the reason of making weapons isn't something you see every day." He shrugged.

"Weaponry is a hobby of mine, I guess. I have a whole Armory back at my place."

"That's pretty cool. Think we can check it out after lunch?" Sable shook his head.

"No." Hazel whined.

"Why not? That sounds awesome!" Sable shook his head again.

"No, we aren't going to my home." There was a moment of awkward silence before Sable turned around. The others looked at each other before following his gaze to two men sitting at another booth. One was wearing a trenchcoat, while the other had jeans and a T shirt on. Paris looked back at Sable.

"What is it?" She said.

"That man thinks I'm a threat to his deal, I think."

"What? Why?" Reece said.

"Probably heard me say I made weapons for a living." The men continued to speak, not seeing the kids. Sable then turned back to the table. "Don't look." The rest of his team sat back in their seats casually, but looked at Sable.

"What deal? What are you talking about?" Paris asked. He shook his head.

"I don't know." Sable said, looking past Paris at the wall. "But I'm keeping an eye on them."

"You're looking out the window, Sable." Sable directed his head at the window.

"There's a reflection." Hazel looked at the window, noticing the reflection that showed everything behind them, including the two men. The two of them watched the men as the man in the trenchcoat started patting his chest as he spoke. The man in the T shirt nodded, pulling a large wad of cash out of his pocket and onto the table. The trenchcoat man quickly scooped up the money and put it in his coat. After a few more words, the man put a small package on the table. The man with jeans quickly swooped up the package, putting it in his pocket. The man made a quick look around the room before glaring at the other, quickly saying a few words. The trenchcoat man shrugged, leaving the booth, walking for the door. The other man sat in the booth alone, drinking his coffee. Sable leaned out of the booth to watch the man just walk out the door, he quickly turned to his teammates while he got out of the booth.

"Alright, Paris, Reece, stay here and watch the man in that booth, follow him if he leaves. Hazel come with me, we're going to follow the other man." Hazel processed it for only a second before she nodded in confirmation, standing up as well.

"Alright, let's go." The two of them left that moment, leaving Paris and Reece looking at each other in the booth. It was only another moment before Paris switched seats to the other side, just as the waitress returned with the entire teams food.

* * *

Hazel and Sable looked around the street for a moment until they saw the man in the trench coat walking along the sidewalk on the other side. Sable pointed him out, starting to walk after on their side, Hazel walking right alongside him.

"Why would he be threatened by us? What is it he was selling that man?" Hazel said. Sable didn't take his eyes off the man.

"I'm not sure. The bag was small, so I would bet on drugs. Maybe an illegal gun?" He said.

"A gun?" Hazel snorted. "Why would he waste his money buying an illegal gun? You can get a licensed weapon incredibly easily in Vale."

"Not if you've committed more than three felonies." Hazel frowned, looking at the ground.

"You think the other man's a criminal?" The man turned into an alley. Sable looked after him until he looked back at Hazel.

"Yes, but there's only one way to make sure." He looked for cars on the road before the two of them jogged across the street and entered the alley. The side road was small, just enough space for a couple dumpsters and some space behind them before it came to a dead end. The man was gone. Sable turned in a full circle before frowning.

"Where is he?" They looked around for a moment before Hazel started getting visibly frustrated.

"We watched him come in here! Where the hell could he have gone?"

The cock of a gun was at the mouth of the alley.

"Now, why did I get the feeling someone was following me?" Hazel spun around, but froze the moment she saw the revolver pointed at her head. Sable stood behind her at the back of the alley, watching the man as his eyes flicked between the two of them calmly.

"A 9 Millimeter. You fire that and all of Vale will hear." He smiled slyly at them.

"Good. They'll hear you die as well, I assume?" Sable opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the man cocking back the hammer.

"Yes, they will." The man moved the gun to Hazel as he squinted his eyes at her. "They'll hear us die, but they won't care. The person that'll hear our voices at night is you." He glared at her, the gun in his hand completely still.

"What do you mean?" He said. His voice barely cracking, almost unnoticeable.

"I mean that if you kill us, that's two lives on your hands. Two lives you ended because of what? Fear?" The gun started to shake a bit.

"I'm not scared. Why would I be?"

"Because a deal like any other is now infiltrated by a couple kids, and you're not sure whether or not you want to kill them." Sable sucked in a breath behind her, but the man didn't seem to notice. Hazel's voice was calm and collected. Her voice didn't seem to have changed, but there was a new smoothness to it.

"I-I could kill you right here and now." The man said, but his gun was practically vibrating in his hand.

"Yes, but why? You could let us go. Most of your body's covered by that coat, and your face is covered by that hat. We don't know who you are, so why bother risking getting caught?" He stared at her with dilated eyes, his gun shaking in his hand, sweat starting to bead on his cheeks and forehead. He watched her for a few dangerous moments, thoughts racing across his eyes before all in one motion, he turned, whisking out of the alley, his gun disappearing into his belt. Hazel stared out of the alley a second longer before she let out a sigh of relief. She turned to Sable.

"That was too close." When she noticed his stare, she wrinkled up her nose. "What?" He pointed out the alley.

"You completely changed that man's mind. He was completely calm when he pulled that gun and you convinced him that he wasn't so sure he even knew how to use that thing. That's… Not natural." Hazel stared at him for a solid three seconds before she shook her head.

"I've always been told I could talk my way out of a problem better than fight my way out." He stared at Hazel longer before nodding slowly.

"Well, I'll make sure to remember that." He looked out the alley, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"We should return to the diner." Hazel nodded, following after him.

* * *

By the time they had made it back, there was already a police car outside the restaurant. Hazel glanced at Sable to see him smiling, and when she looked back at the diner, she saw the man with the package walk out, cuffed, with an officer behind him. Reece and Paris walked out right behind him, doggy bags from the diner in hand. Reece was smiling happily, and Paris, surprisingly enough, was smiling along with him. Sable and Hazel walked over to them as the officer put the man in the backseat of his car, looking back at Reece as he closed the door.

"I'd like to thank the two of you again for helping catch this criminal. It would've been a long while before we found this line if you hadn't stepped in." He had the package in his hand as he threw it threw the window of the cab, into the passenger seat. When he turned back around, he saw Sable and Hazel.

"Ah! You two must be the rest of Reece's team. Sable and Hazel, correct?" Sable nodded.

"Yes. We were following the other man." He said. The officer looked at the criminal, who was looking at the floor of the car.

"This man's supply. Damned Heroin lines have been struck around the city, and we've been looking for the source. This man here might be able to help us out." He turned back to the four of them. "I'd like to thank the four of you again. I'll make sure your parents know what you've done for your kingdom." Team Sapphire looked at each other before they laughed.

"No, we're Hunters in training. We came from Beacon." Paris said. The office beamed at her.

"Well, then. I'll let the chief of police know what you've done." He walked around his car to the drivers seat. "He'll tell the Headmaster over at Beacon. I believe they know each other." With a smile and a couple more goodbyes, the officer took off with the junkie. Sable glanced at Hazel.

"Drugs. That's what it was."

 **Hey, guys. I know it's been longer than the last chapter have been, but honestly, I haven't really made a schedule for this story. I don't plan on making one altogether. If people like reading this, good. Either way I plan on writing what I have on my mind. See you guys next time!**


	6. Chapter 6: Surprising History

"It really wasn't that big of a deal." Reece was smiling flirtingly at the girls at the table next to theirs in the cafeteria. They were smiling and giggling to each other as they watched him. The story had gotten out that Team SPHR had stopped a drug line in Vale, and they had been noticing more than a few eyes watching them as they walked the halls. "Just a typical saturday, ya' know. Stopping the injustices that corrupt our beloved city." He smiled at them as they giggled at each other.

"Your food's getting cold." Reece turned back to his team after Sable spoke, now ignoring the girls.

"Yeah, yeah, Sable. Just having a little fun. If you were smart you'd do the same." When all he got was a blank stare back, he looked down at his food. "Nevermind." Hazel glanced at Paris, who was looking away.

"How are you not annoyed by him right now?" Paris hesitated a couple seconds before finally looking at her with a surprisingly shallow smile.

"What?" Hazel raised an eyebrow at her before looking at where she was smiling. There was a group of guys laughing and looking over at them. Hazel rolled her eyes as Paris looked back at them.

"You- are ridiculous." She then looked at Sable, whom was looking down at his food as he ate, like he usually does. He seemed to be completely oblivious to the rumors that had been floating around about what they did.

"I know that we're in the spotlight, Hazel." She sucked in a breathe as he looked at her. "You're an open book, just like everybody else in this school." He shoved his head back at something behind him. "A couple tables over, there's a couple girls that are talking about us." Hazel looked back to see two girls staring at the back of Sable's head, talking to each other with smiles. A smirk appeared across her face as she turned back around.

"Talking about us? It looks like they're pretty hot for you." He shrugged.

"Nah." When he didn't continue, Reece stared at him.

"Are you serious? Go talk to them." He looked up at him with a confused look.

"Why?" Reece raised his eyebrows, leaning back in his seat.

"Did you live in a hole your entire life, or are you just crazy?" Sable stared at him with a blank expression for a solid five seconds. He just opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the overhead speaker. Professor Goodwitch's voice came through.

"Would all of Team SPHR please report to the Headmaster's Office. Thank you." Sable stood up quickly.

"We should go." The rest of them looked at each other before standing as well, following him to the doors. They were surrounded by silence from the rest of the room.

* * *

The Team stood in the large elevator that took them up to the Headmaster's office.

"What do you think this is about?" Reece said to nobody in particular.

"Dunno." Paris said. A moment later, the door opened up to the large room. Sable walked out, followed by his team in a line behind him. The Professor stood behind his large desk, waiting for them. Sable stood in front of his desk, the others standing beside him in a line.

"Ah, Team SPHR, thank you for coming." The Professor said. He had a prideful twinkle in his eye. "I called for you today under the reason of news I have acquired from an old friend."

"The police chief." Sable said. He nodded.

"Yes, Chief Wukong. He informed me that they were able to sniff out a line of Heroine that was around Vale just yesterday. He told me that everything he found started from a man that was arrested 3 days ago. I assume you three know who I am speaking of?" Paris nodded.

"The addict we caught." He nodded.

"Yes." He picked up a file from the clutter on his desk, placing it in front of them. "This is the full report one of the officers made from witnesses and his own word. All very heroic words about the three of you. Not something we usually see from Hunters in training as new as you four."

"We did what we thought was best, sir." Sable said confidently. Ozpin nodded.

"Yes, I'm sure you did, Sable." He swiped his eyes over all four of them.

"I wanted the four of you to know that what you did was what being a Hunter means. You saw evil and fought it. Sure you weren't fighting Grimm, or fighting in an army, but you were fighting for the light. I rarely see a Team take initiative quite like you four did, and it's a warm sight to see. As Headmaster of Beacon, I thank you. You're dismissed." The four of them turned to leave, but Paris hesitated, turning back to the headmaster.

"Sir, if being a Hunter is about fighting evil, then why are you so surprised to see us doing just that?" Ozpin had a slight smile on his face, like he was expecting her to ask.

"Many people believe that the darkness in this world disappeared with the White Fang all those years ago, though that is not so much as true. There is still Grimm to be fought and Evil to be stopped. I only hope the four of you will be examples for the rest of the students here." Paris nodded thoughtfully before turning and joining her teammates at the elevator.

* * *

The team was silent as they walked back to their dorm. The first words came from Sable once they were already inside.

"That was unexpected." Paris nodded.

"Yeah, I… yeah." Paris had seemed a bit disturbed sense the meeting with the Headmaster. Hazel threw her school bag at the foot of her bed before falling back on it.

"Damn." Reece who was spinning lazily in his desk chair, raised a hand.

"Ditto." Paris was sitting in her chair as well, but she was tapping on her scroll. Sable had sat down on his bed, his sword already in hand. It had been leaning against the wall next to his bed, a rag laying on the hilt. He grabbed the rag as he unsheathed the sword, starting to polish it instantly. After about a minute of tired silence in the room, he spoke.

"What's up, Paris?" His entire team turned to look at him, all surprised. Paris glanced up at him before looking back at her phone.

"Nothing, just sitting here." He was silent for a moment, continuing to rub the rag along the blade.

"You've been rather depressed sense we talked with Ozpin. What for?" Paris looked up from her phone to stare at Sable. Hazel and Reece were doing the same silently.

"I, uhhh, I'm fine." Sable stared back at her silently before turning back to his sword.

"Alright." Reece lost interest in his leader quickly, going back to his spinning, while Hazel turned to look at Paris.

"You know if something's messing with your head, you can tell us." Paris glanced at her before turning her chair towards them again.

"It's just… all we did was catch a junkie and we're legends." Hazel nodded from where she sat.

"Yeah, I get it. How can it be so rare for hunters to stop evil? I thought this was what we were expected to do, what we signed up for." Paris nodded.

"Yeah…" There were a couple seconds of silence.

"We shouldn't think too much into this." Reece said. "Maybe he's just surprised to have students that are so advanced so quickly." Silence again. The only sound was the rubbing of metal from Sable's sword. then, nothing. Hazel glanced at Sable to see him staring down at his sword.

"I'm tired of this." His entire team looked at him, but when he didn't continue, Hazel spoke.

"What?" His eyes flicked up from his sword to her.

"I can't stand all of you acting like this. What can I do to change the mood?" He said it in such a calm voice, that the others couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Paris scrunched up her face in a glare.

"You could tell us why Hunters are so fucking worthless now." Sable gave her a cold stare. Before he could say anything, or the silence could go on, Hazel spoke.

"How about instead of that, we-" Sable raised his hand in interruption.

"No." Hazel stopped abruptly, looking at him cautiously. He was staring at Paris. "If that's what it takes, I'll answer the question." Even Reece stopped his aimless spinning to look at him nervously. Sable's been calm and emotionless before, but he's never been as cold as he is now.

"Paris, the reason the Hunters of Remnant are so useless is because nobody has done shit for twenty years. There have been no armies rising against Remnant, or wars being struck between the kingdoms for them to stop. No, all we can do now is deal in petty crime. Drug deals and muggers. Murderers and thieves. Now, they can spend their life running around the forest, trying to eliminate every last Grimm that has infected Remnant, or they can be laughed at and undermined in the Kingdoms. So, Paris, is that a good enough answer for you?" Paris stared wide eyed at her leader, completely still in her chair. Reece mimicked her almost exactly, his spinning coming to a complete halt. Hazel, however, was not so fazed. She stood from her bed.

"Alright, Sable, that's enough." Sable looked at her, but stayed quiet. "We've been through a bit lately, and honestly, it's stressed us all out." If they weren't the ones being spoken to, they would've noticed Hazel's voice change. "Fightin isn't the answer. We just need to stay together, collect our thoughts, and-"

"Stop that!" Hazel looked at Sable in alarm to see him watching her in a mixture of disbelief and horror. Paris, who had been starting to lean back and relax in her chair, suddenly pitched forward. Reece seemed unaffected altogether by the outburst, slowly turning his head to look at his leader. Sable pointed at Hazel.

"You're doing that again, the way change people's thoughts. You were doing it on us!" Hazel opened and closed her mouth in shock.

"I-I just thought it would ease us out of the conflict."

"No! You can't just do that, Hazel, It's unnatural." Paris was watching them in alarm.

"What are you talking about?" She said, looking back and forth between Hazel and Sable as they stared at each other. Reece started his spinning again.

"It's your Semblance, isn't it?" Hazel stared at him in silence. "You said 'I could talk my way out of a problem than fight my way out.' That's it, right?" Hazel stared for another moment before nodding.

"Yeah, it is." Paris put her hands in the air.

"What's her Semblance?!" She said in annoyance.

"Word Manipulation." Reece said lazily as he spun. Paris looked at him, and when he noticed, he continued. "She can use her words to manipulate minds. Probably make people change their thoughts and emotion with a single word?" Hazel shook her head.

"No, it's not that powerful."

"It probably could be, if you trained hard enough." Hazel stared at Reece, but Sable still wasn't swayed.

"How could you possibly know that?" Reece shrugged.

"I'm just rambling, ignore me." He said, going back to his spinning.

"Hazel, you can't just do that to people. It's not something you can play with." She shook her head at him.

"I know that. I rarely do it, only when I think I need to." Sable opened his mouth to speak, but Hazel just waved it off. "Sable, I've had this my whole life, I know how to use it." Sable watched her for a moment before looking away, putting his long forgotten sword back in it's sheathe. He put the tip on the ground, leaning on it like a cane as he looked down. Paris scrunched her eyebrows.

"Sable, you alright?" He nodded quickly, rubbing his head.

"Yeah, you guys are just giving me a headache." Hazel and Paris looked at each other in surprise from the rude comment. Sable seemed in a much different mood than usual to them, being a bit more hostile. He stood up, moving toward the door. "I'm gonna take a walk." They watched him as he left the room, closing the door quietly behind himself. Paris looked at Hazel, but she just shrugged. When Paris looked at Reece, he was still spinning.

"What do you think about all this?" Paris asked. Reece stopped to look at her.

"Nothing. I'm not thinking about any of this." He said, much to her displeasure.

"How can you be so-so emotionless? This seems like a pretty, you know, emotional situation." Paris said. He just shrugged.

"I thought I was doing good by the book." Paris just shook her head and turned her chair back to her desk.

"You're ridiculous."


	7. Chapter 7: The Gun Range

Hazel ducked the sword aimed for her head before jumping back out of range. Her competitor rushed her, trying to get inside her weapon's range, but she swung she spear diagonally back and forth as she pushed her enemy back. She took their retreat to good use as she spun forward, pulling her spear down to the enemy's neck. The sword flicked up to bat away the attack, sending her naginata far off course, giving the enemy just enough time to kick her in the chest. She was knocked back, her weapon straying from her hand as she fell on her back.

 **REEEEET.**

She sighed in defeat as the ending buzzer went off for the round. When she looked up, she saw her partner there, waiting for her to stand with her weapon in hand, his already sheathed at his side. As she got back on her feet, the teacher, , joined them in the arena.

"An impressive fight from both of you. Sable was smart to try getting inside the reach of the spear, his sword working much better at that close combat. Hazel, even though you lost the match, that was 16 seconds longer than the last fight. Keep up the good work." She turned to the class as they returned to their team in the viewing benches. "That will be the end of class today. No Homework has been assigned, but keep practicing!" With that, she left the arena to return to her office, the class dispersing as well. Hazel and Sable walked side by side up the steps as they approached their friends waiting by the door for them. When Hazel noticed Sable rubbing his temple with his left hand, the other rested lightly on his sword, she spoke.

"Sable, you alright? Didn't ride you too hard down there, did I?" He glanced at her as she smiled at him, but continued to frown like usually. His hand dropped from his head as he spoke.

"Headache is all. You're blade might've gotten a bit too close, but nothing I can't handle. You've been getting better." Hazel beamed at the compliment. It had been a solid 2 months since the the year had started at Beacon, and she was glad with the progress she had made to get Sable to open up. Although none of the rest of his team knew almost anything about him still, he had come to speak more often, and have given compliments more regularly.

"You two lovebirds gonna take all day?" Hazel glared playfully up at Reece, but he just returned the look with a gleeful smile.

"Yeah, right! Like you can say anything?" She glanced at Paris pointedly. Paris' eyes widened in realization at what she was inferring.

"You can't be serious?" Hazel just laughed, brushing past them to leave the classroom. When Paris looked at Reece, he just gave her a shrug before following Hazel. She looked back at Sable as he started to pass her.

"What did that mean?!" He glanced at her, slowing down.

"He's just trying to get in your head." With that, he continued out the door, forcing the girl to follow after him.

* * *

The four of them walked together through the hallways, following their route back to the dorm. The entire way, Hazel greeted student after student as she passed by them, laughing along with all the inside jokes recited to her from various different groups. Paris glanced at her after she greeted a bunch of 3rd years passing in the hallway like she was best friends with the lot.

"Jeez, Hazel. Who don't you know in this school?" Paris said in astonishment. Hazel looked back at her as Reece responded.

"She knows everyone." Her eyebrows dived in confusion.

"Hm?" She hummed playfully. She pointed at Paris.

"You're just jealous I'm meeting one of the sophomore guys in Team JADE this afternoon for a date." Paris raised her eyebrows, but Sable was the one to respond.

"Isn't Team JADE the best combat team in the 2nd year class?" Hazel nodded in excitement.

"Yeah! Justin's gonna take me out for a movie later tonight! It's gonna be awesome!" Reece swung his finger at her pointedly.

"Now, just don't be home after 10, or I'm gonna call the cops on this boy!" Paris groaned in response.

"Remnant, you are sooooo lame." She acted annoyed, but she'd come to terms with how Reece was. As frustrating as he was, he was still her partner. They made it to their dorm building a few minutes afterward, all entering together. Paris glanced at Hazel as she put her books down on her desk.

"So when's the lucky girl being taken out tonight?" Hazel flopped down on her bed.

"We're going out to Vale at around 7 to catch the movie. We'll probably get dinner afterward, so don't hold up for me." Sable had walked to his bed and had picked his sword up from where it sat in it's sheathe, leaned up against his bed. He spoke back at her, not bothering to turn around.

"I believe we have a scheduled team training session at 7 tonight in the gym." Hazel groaned in response as she remembered.

"Dammit, I forgot." She sat up on her bed to look at Sable's back. "Can I please skip?" Sable took another moment with his back turned to her as he went through the drawer in his end table, getting out a small towel. He finally turned to her as he held both in his hand.

"No, and don't bother trying to "Persuade" me to let you go." Hazel grimaced when he said "persuade." Ever since he had figured out her Semblance, the thought had obviously not sat well with him. He pointed out that she shouldn't use it at any chance he got. Hazel looked down at her feet guiltily. Sable watched her as she sulked on her bed for a solid minute before he finally groaned, heading for the door.

"Fine, you can go on your date, but I'm pushing the training to 6, so you all better be there." He looked at Paris as he pointed at where Reece had already fallen asleep in his bed. "Make sure he's there." With that, he was out the door. None of them had to ask where he was going, for he practically ran to the armory of the school just after class nearly every day lately. Hazel jumped up in success, smiling as she cheered. Paris watched her from her desk chair in astonishment once again before returning to her work.

* * *

Sable stood in the private training room alone as he waited for the rest of his team. He watched the clock on the wall next to the door, counting down minutes before his teammates walked in, only a minute or so before 6. All three of them were wearing their regular attire, and were armed with their weapons. Sable smiled as they stood in front of him, ceasing their talking for him to start the training session.

"Alright, today we'll be working on alternate weaponry." He moved to the touch screen next to the door and went through the options on the screen until he found target practice. When he selected that mode, on the far side of the room, a dozen holographic targets came up all around, close and far from a median that rose from the floor, cutting them off from the targets. He turned to them just at Paris spoke.

"What do you mean "alternate weaponry?"" Sable smiled, pulling a container from beside the screen out, revealing a long gun rack, although there were only four identical handguns on the rack.

"Firearm usage." When he saw their surprised faces, he continued. "There will be points in time where you will not have access to your regular weapons, and will be forced to use something a little more mainstream, like say" He picked the first handgun off the rack, holding it in his hand with expertise. "A police provided Glock .35. We'll be practising the use of these guns as well as target practise, which I'm sure all three of you will be ready for in due time. Now, normally we'd have a professional firearms officer present to supervise, but I've been given permission to teach you three to use these myself."

"Why?" Hazel said, curious to how he got special privileges. He responded by walking to the range, checking the gun for ammo and turning off the safety as he walked. When he arrived, he instantly brought up the gun and fire 6 clean shots, one by one, before he stopped. When he turned back to them, the safety returning, they could see the red dots on six of the bullseyes on the targets. They stared at him in confusion and surprise, but he just handed Reece the gun.

"I got my firearm license long ago after I found out it was illegal to create guns without one. I whipped up these 3 in the past month or so in the armory for you guys." Reece looked down at the gun in surprise to see smack dab in the middle of the grip, a large R.

"You custom made these?" He glanced back as he grabbed two of the other guns off the rack.

"Not really. I followed the regular model. I just added your initials to make sure they weren't mixed up. Also, thought it might show that they really are yours to own." Paris stared at him as he handed her one of the handguns.

"Isn't it illegal for the three of us to own these?" He handed Hazel her's as he responded.

"Technically, yes." He said. "Until the three of you get your licenses, they will be staying in my possession, but once you three get the license at the end of training, you'll have free use of them." Hazel held her handgun awkwardly, studying it silently. Sable watched her, rather than the other two, as they explored their guns.

"You'll get used to the feeling." She looked up at him before nodding confidently.

* * *

 _ **BANG BANG BANG**_. Paris stood at the median as she aimed her handgun at the targets. She shot a couple more bullets slowly, taking time for each to make their mark, before she placed the gun down on the table. She turned to look at Sable as he had his Scroll in hand, looking at how well she did. He walked over to her as he looked up.

"Good work, Paris. 3 bullseyes, 5 in second ring, and one in third. Good for only a day's practise." Sable put them through 20 minutes of loading and using the gun before he had put them at the targets. Reece had been doing exceptionally, getting bullseyes regularly, with only a couple second rings. Hazel, on the other hand, was all over the place, he bullets lying in the fifth or sixth regularly. When Sable gave her the good to go, Paris took her Glock from the table and placed it in her holster before heading the the gun rack to fill hers back up with ammo.

"You're last to go, Hazel." She nodded, walking over to him at the counter. He wiped the last round on the targets, leaving no red dots on the holographic screens. He then watched her as she got into stance, holding her gun with both hands as she aimed at the closest target. Sable watched her as she watched all the targets, her eyes flicking back and forth between them.

"Hazel, calm down. Focus on one target at a time. Instead of thinking ahead to what you're going to shoot next, think about what you're shooting now." She nodded, taking in his words as she breathed a little more slowly. Sable back to the others as he started the round. One by one, Hazel shot at each of the targets until she had fired all nine bullets for the round. When the last bullet left the barrel, Hazel sighed in relief, putting the gun down on the table. That was when she looked at the targets. The red dots were all over the place, some not even hitting a target and instead showing up on the back wall. Hazel looked down tiredly.

 _ **BANG.**_ She whipped her head up as she turned around. Someone had fired a gun behind her at the target.

"Reece!" Sable yelled as he turned to the boy in surprise, though he was only sitting on the ground next to the rack, his gun not even in his hand. That was when they looked at the door. There stood a tall, fair haired guy with a long revolver in his hand, pointed at the targets. He was wearing a white T shirt and blue jeans, black boots on his feet that added a good inch to his already large height. Sable glared at him accusingly, but said nothing as Hazel beamed.

"Justin! What are you doing here?!" The boy smiled at her with a predatory look in his eye as he holstered the long barreled gun at his hip.

"Just stopped by to see how you were doing before we head out to Vale." Hazel smacked her forehead.

"Shit, I got caught up in training! Sorry about that, let me go get ready." She went straight for the door.

"Hazel, forgetting something?" She turned back to him for a second before remembering.

"Oh, yeah!" She unhooked her weapons belt from her waist and hastily handed it to him before heading out the door. Justin lingered for only a second to look at her teammates before following her out the door. When it closed behind him, there was an unnatural silence. Paris looked at Sable to see him holding the belt with white fists, staring at the door with an emotionless mask.

"Sable?" He looked at her with a blank expression.

"I guess that'll end the training session for today." He turned to both of them, anger shown clearly through his movements, but nothing else. "If the two of you'll leave your guns in the rack before you leave, then you're free to go." Paris and Reece looked at each other briefly before turning back to Sable, who had already moved to the median, picking up Hazel's forgotten handgun on the table. He held it in his hand for a moment, staring down at it as he caressed the grip lightly. Paris opened her mouth to speak, but Sable beat her to the punch.

"I'm fine, guys. Seriously, you can go." He hadn't even bothered to turn around. Reece took that as permission and put his handgun away, and when he noticed Paris hadn't moved from where she stood, he nudged her, trying to grab her attention.

"He doesn't want to talk about it, be patient." He then started for the door, having broken Paris out of her stupor. When she turned to see him leaving, she quickly placed her gun in the rack and followed him out the door, barely leaving another glance back at Sable.


	8. Chapter 8: The Roof

"What do you think they're up to now?" Reece lazily spun in his desk chair, checking his phone every so often as Paris continued droning on and on about Hazel's date. "I mean, she was obviously into the guy." Reece didn't bother glancing at Paris from where she was sitting at her desk, working on homework, even though her mind was elsewhere. Instead of writing with her pencil, she was more concerned in chewing on the eraser in excitement.

"I'm sure they're already to the intense make out portion of the date." When Reece spun to see Paris, she was glaring at him.

"Don't joke, I'm sure he's already taken her out to dinner, you know, being the gentleman and pulling her chair out for her, and stuff." She turned her chair back to her desk as she tried focusing on her work.

"Or maybe he reserved an entire restaurant for just their date!" Paris squealed in delight at the thought. "So that he could fuck her right on the table!" Her squeal quickly turned into a groan. In Reece's next roundabout, he was forced to catch a pencil flying at his face. Paris was staring at him with a completely disgusted look.

"You don't have to be so vulgar!" He smiled, giving her a smug smile.

"Oh, but Paris I do. For if I am not as disgusting as I could be, the light inside of me might just take over! How will you fare if I become a happy go lucky guy all the time?! Hm?! How could you fall for a man like that?!" She turned her chair back to her homework in disgust.

"Ugh. You're a beast." He smiled, turning to the window he was spinning beside.

"I try my very best." Silence overtook the room for a few minutes, Reece staring out the window while Paris had returned to her work. Reece suddenly leaned forward, trying to get a better view of the shape in the darkness.

"Sable's coming back." Paris looked up at that. Sable hadn't returned to the dorm since the training session, and it had been nearly two hours. She stood from her chair to join him at the window, to see their leader walking slowly back to the dorms from the main building. He definitely looked better than before, more relaxed as he walked the campus grounds alone. He was about 50 yards from the building when he stopped. He then looked right up at the pair of them watching him in the window. Paris jumped back, hoping not to be seen, but Reece merely stared back at him, putting up a hand that signified a wave. Sable stared at him a moment longer before heading into the dorm building.

Paris quickly returned to her desk before Sable could return to the room only a few minutes later. She looked up as he walked in, watching him quietly. He just walked across the room, his sword in hand as he placed it back beside him bed. He sat down quietly, taking his jacket off and hanging it on the bed frame before lying back on the bed. It was only a few minutes before Paris spoke.

"You can trust us, Sable." The boy turned his head to look at her, made made no other movements to show he heard her. She continued when he didn't respond. "The past is the past, I get it, but that doesn't mean you have to keep that shield around your heart up all the time." He stared at her for another moment in silence before he spoke.

"I trust the three of you with my life. Is there anything else I can do to prove that I believe in you?" He said with no edge in his voice, only calm.

"Just because you want us at your back on the battlefield, doesn't mean you trust us with who you are." Sable leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling, analyzing his thoughts. Paris ceased to watch him, not expecting an answer from her leader as she returned to her work.

It was nearly an hour later before anything else was said. The blanket of silence had stayed lightly on the three teammates, none wanting or willing to throw it off. Paris completed her work briefly after she had confronted her leader, but then just pulled out her notebook to sketch in her spare time. Reece sat at the window, continuing his endless spinning as he quietly awaited the return of Hazel. Sable laid back in his bed, his eyes closed and his breathe heavy. It had become apparent to the others that he had fallen asleep a while ago, and neither felt entitled to disturb his sleep.

The first words were said when a Bullhead landed down in the Beacon Port.

"Hazel's back."

* * *

"That was an awesome dinner. Thanks for taking me out." Hazel sighed melodically as she sat beside the boy that had just brought her out on a date. He was watching her with fascinated eyes.

"Of course, it was the least I could do for someone like you." They had spent their time at dinner, talking, getting to know each other, nothing too serious yet.

Not, at least, until he had placed his hand on Hazel's leg. Hazel looked down at the hand with a smile, looking at Justin with a predatory grin. It didn't take long before they were sharing the same seat, Hazel straddling Justin as they intensely made out. Hazel's hands explored the older boy's back, going over the large muscles through his shirt. Justin pulled her against him with his hands, bringing the two of them closer together. It wasn't long before his hands creeped down to Hazel's ass, quicking a feel. Hazel gasped as he squeezed her cheeks, an alpha smile on his face as he tried taking control of the situation.

"You are just the sexiest girl at Beacon." He growled in lust, his hands moving away from her ass, but only to started for move the button on the front of the jeans. The moment Justin touched the button, Hazel reeled back, or at least tried to before he pulled her back against him. He stared into her eyes as she glared at him.

"What's the matter? I thought we came out to have a good time?" She growled at him as she tried getting out of his grip.

"Yeah, well I didn't sign up for this. Now let me go!" He smiled, pushing his mouth against hers as his tongue explored the inside of her mouth, against her will. She squealed in alarm, starting to buck a little bit more before the Bullhead finally touched down at Beacon. The jolt gave Hazel just enough time to pull herself from the boy's grasp and onto the floor, backing away from him. He just sat there and watched her as she stood up on shaky legs, pointing at him accusingly.

"Don't EVER come near me again!" He yelled after her with a smile as she left the plane and briskly walked back to the dorms.

"Hey, come on! Don't be like that!" She ignored him as she continued her walk. She all of a sudden, wanted to get as far away from him as possible.

* * *

"She doesn't look so hot right now." Paris said as she had joined her partner once again at the window. Hazel was walking back to the dorms alone, her arms clinging to each other in front of her. Reece glanced at Sable to see him still sounds asleep before looking at Paris.

"What do you think happened?" She just shook her head.

"I don't know, but I get the feeling we might find out." She walked back to her desk without another word, but started to get anxious when Hazel never returned to the dorm room. It had been thirty minutes since they had seen her approaching the building. She should have made it here by now. She swiveled in her chair to look at Reece, but by the look on his face, he was thinking the same thing.

"Should we go look for her?" Paris said hesitantly. Reece stared out the window for a moment longer before shaking his head.

"I don't think we do." He directed his head at where Sable was sleeping. "I think he does." Paris looked at Sable from the corner of her eye, starting to bite her lip. She went through the options in her head, but didn't get a chance to choose one when Reece started shaking Sable awake. He opened his eyes not long after Reece touched him, glaring up at Reece after the second of fear.

"What?" Sable's voice was cold, but it didn't waver him.

"Hazel's back, and I'm gonna be straight with you, she didn't look too good. She came to the building half an hour ago, but she hasn't returned to the dorm." Sable stared for a couple seconds before nodding his head in understanding.

"I'll look for her." He got up from the bed without another thought, wordlessly grabbing his jacket as he strided for the door. He closed it behind him silently as Paris watched Reece, a tired look in his eyes.

* * *

She couldn't believe this. What has come to this school? It was only filled assholes and douchebags, no traces of good left. What was her dad going to think if he saw her hanging out with assholes like _Justin_.

"Running off like that wasn't the smartest plan." Hazel whirled around to see Sable standing in the doorway to the stairs. She had been sure nobody would've found her on the roof. Sable slowly walked over to her, joining her at the edge to look over the campus. "I come up here every now and then to clear my head, but I tend to find that just sitting here in silence brings more thoughts than it sends." He didn't look at her, he didn't say anything more, he just stood there beside her as they stared out at the distance. It was a long period of time before either of them said anything.

"Why did you come here? How did you even know I was here?" Hazel asked quietly, almost a whisper.

"I came in goodwill for the team. We were worried about you when we saw you come to the dorms, but disappeared soon after. It didn't take long before I decided to look for you." He finally turned to look at her, seeing the lines of mascara running down her face for the first time. "What happened?" Hazel shrugged quietly, not wanting to meet his eyes.

"Just drama's all. I won't be going on another date with Justin again." Sable nodded.

"That's good." Hazel laughed tiredly.

"Is it really?" Sable gave a half smile.

"He was kind of a dick." Hazel actually laughed at that. Sable rarely swore, but he meant it when he did. She didn't realize it at first, but she was happy he had come up to check on her. They stared at each other for a long while before Sable moved forward slowly, bringing her into his arms. He held her as she stared at his chest in surprise. Swearing was a rarity for Sable, but a Hug? Unheard of. She looked up at him as he spoke.

"Hazel, I trust you. It doesn't matter what happens or what will happen or what has happened. I trust you with all my being. I believe in you." Hazel laughed in bliss at his chest, tears crying to come out, but she was already dry. She reached her arms around her partner and held him lightly with her arms. Although it was no bear hug like he was giving her, the meaning seemed to get across to him. It was a solid two minutes before Sable let go of her, the two of them separating enough to look at each other. Hazel was grinning from ear to ear, while Sable had a light smile on his lips.

"I'm sorry, by the way." Sable raised his eyebrows in confusion at Hazel's words. She quickly continued. "This afternoon, the gun. I remembered on the bullhead into Vale, and couldn't help but think how hard you must have worked to make it. I'm sorry." He shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, everybody makes mistakes." Hazel looked out at Beacon again, now in a new light than before. Thoughts raced through her mind, but one seemed to stick like glue.

"Sable, why do you hate my Semblance?" She had realized that she had been intentionally avoiding to use it since his outburst. Even when it might have saved her before, she neglected to use it to avoid the situation. Sable's smile wavered. Hazel watched him from the corner of her eye as he hesitated to answer.

"I… It changes everything that I know." Hazel frowned, unsure of what he meant. She looked at him with a confused look.

"What?" He took a deep breathe.

"My entire life I've understood how people feel, and what actions could change their feelings, and how it could affect them. What you do, just tilts the scale that explains that, molding people's minds to your will, it just… It feels wrong." Hazel stared out, thinking about what he was saying when it hit her. _Was that his Semblance?_

"Yes, Hazel. It is." She turned to him quickly, surprise and confusion flying across her face. She stared at him for a couple seconds before he sighed and turned to her.

"My Semblance gives me the ability to sense the feelings and emotions of the people around me." He turned back to the still night. "The closer I get to people, emotionally, I can sense them better and better, and eventually, I hear people's thoughts." He looked down at the building under him. "Reece and Paris are still fuzzy to me, their thoughts sound like they're going through static" He looked back at her, ", but Hazel, I can sometimes hear yours clear as day." Nothing was said as Hazel stared for a few minutes. He seemed to not be paying attention to the skyline, instead of her, but she wasn't so sure anymore.

"You can hear my thoughts?" Hazel said hesitantly. He shook his head as he turned back to her. There seemed to be pain in his eyes.

"Not always. Only when you're dealing with deep emotions. The rest of the time, it's just a sense." Hazel nodded slowly, turning back to the sky for another few minutes before her eyes widened.

"You're headaches…" He nodded.

"In a classroom full of teens, it gets overwhelming. I have no control over my ability. I can't turn it on or off, it's just… there. Something I've come to live with." Hazel nodded, trying not to think too hard about it, but the thoughts just kept coming back. She just needed some time al-

"I'll go back to the dorm. Take your time to process it, just… Could you keep it to yourself?" Hazel nodded, not wanting to make eye contact with her partner. She turned to watch him leave, but he was already gone.

* * *

"They're okay, right?" Reece nodded to his partner. She had been fidgety and nervous ever since Sable had gone up to Hazel alone. "We should've gone with him." Reece shook his head at her.

"No, they needed time to talk. Respect their privacy." Paris' eyes shot up.

"Privacy? What do they need to talk about that's so private?" Reece merely shrugged.

"Their partners. If either of them are having a problem, it's the other's job to help them along with it. We may be morale support to our teammates, but they need each other when anything real is happening. It's the same between us." Paris raised her eyebrows at him, surprised at his sudden understanding of relationships. Before she could speak, the door to the dorm opened, revealing Sable, but no Hazel. He walked in quietly, returning to his bed.

"Hazel's fine. She just needs some time to think." Sable stared down at his bed for a moment before turning back to them. "I think I'm going to head back to Vale for the weekend, give myself some time to clear my head." Paris stood from her chair, worry crossing her face, but before she could speak, Sable turned his head to her.

"Paris, I'll be fine. I've got a place in South Vale I can stay at. We've got no classes, and I'm cancelling any training sessions we have." He continued to gather his things, but really was only putting small things in the pocket of his jacket before he finally picked up his sword, holding it in hand as he started for the door. He stopped when an arm blocked his way.

"What is happening, Sable?" Reece said defiantly. Sable only gave him a tired look.

"Let me go, Reece. You of all people should get this. I just need to get away from everything for a little while." The two guys stared at each other for a solid minute, neither willing to back down before Reece stepped back, putting his arm down.

"You'll be back by the time for classes on Monday?" He nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be back by then." With that, he was out the door, the only things on him being the jacket on his back and the sword in his hand.

* * *

Hazel sniffled quietly on the roof as she stared out across the campus. She didn't know what to make of the situation she had been dropped in. Sable had to live a nightmare. He had to feel what everybody else felt around him all the time. She couldn't imagine what that was like, but she had to learn to live with it. If anything, she needed to help him in any way she could.

That's when she noticed the only living soul on campus at this hour. Down below her, just barely able to be seen in the darkness, was Sable. He was walking to the Bullheads with his sword in hand, the black leather sheathe in his hand. Hazel watched him as he strided across the campus. Then she got an idea.

 _Sable._ The boy down below didn't respond in any way.

 _Sable, can you hear me?_ Did he slow down? Is it just my mind seeing that.

 _Sable, wait._ The boy down below stopped. Sable turned around and looked up at her. If he did or said anything, she didn't see it. She watched him for a couple seconds before he turned and continued his walk.


	9. Chapter 9: The Search

Things seemed to be different since Sable had disappeared the night before. The rest of his team went along with their regular business for the day, but his absence seemed like a glaring void the entire time. When Paris and Reece started bickering quietly in class, there was no strong voice to tell them to cut it out. When Hazel was walking around the school, she found herself stopping by the armory to say hi to Sable, to remember that he wasn't there. She frowned quietly when she remembered, turning away from the doorway to the scorching room. She didn't make it far before she ran right into her Grimm Studies Teacher.

Or, at least, she almost did before The Professor quickly slipped around her, dodging her easily, even catching her before she fell on her face in front of her teacher. When Hazel steadied herself, she looked up at the disapproving teacher.

"Is something distracting you from your surroundings, Ms. Arguere?" She meant it as a rhetorical question, and didn't expect the student to actually answer.

"I'm sorry, Professor, I'm just worried about my Partner. He-"

"Left campus for the weekend, yes, I can imagine that can be unsettling." Hazel arched her eyebrows at the teacher.

"You know about Sable?" She nodded, turning to walk away, but signalling to Hazel.

"Walk with me." Hazel hurried to catch up with the woman's large strides. "I saw the records on the Bullhead schedules that Sable had left long into the night yesterday without returning. I was wondering myself what that was about this morning." She looked at Hazel with a expecting look.

"Yeah, I don't think Sable properly understood what I meant by what I said. He's probably trying to give me some distance." She said.

"Did you want him to leave you alone?" Hazel looked down in regret.

"Yes." When she saw the Teacher's blatant look, she shook her head quickly. "I was just surprised! I needed a second to think! I didn't expect him to run off like that." The Teacher looked back forward.

"You should tell him that."

"I don't know where he went." Belladonna looked into space for a moment in her thoughts before she turned to the girl.

"Perhaps he returned to his home." Hazel turned away from the Teacher, embarrassed to admit that she didn't even know where that was. It was a second before she nodded and smiled at her.

"Thanks, Professor. You were really helpful." She gave her student a half smile and a nod.

"Anytime you need to talk, let me know." Hazel grinned at her and walked off, guiding herself to the Dorms.

* * *

The Dorm was quiet, unlike usual. Reece slept on his bed quietly, not making a sound. Paris sat at her desk, making plans with her friends in Valve to hang out. She jumped when Hazel burst through the door.

"We need to look for Sable." She jogged to her dresser to grab a jacket as Paris stood up.

"What?! Why?" She looked back at Paris quickly.

"I need to speak with him, and it can't wait. So come on, let's go!" She walked over to Reece, who was somehow still asleep and pushed him over in his bed. The boy groaned and sat up, but was interrupted before he could speak.

"Get up! We're leaving to look for Sable." Reece stared at her in annoyance for a couple seconds before nodding tiredly, starting to get up.

"Sure, let's go." Both of them ignored Paris' confused looks, leaving the dorm without another thought. Paris could only follow, yelling arguments after them as they made a beeline for the Bullheads.

"Wait! Can we at least make a plan?!" Hazel yelled back at her from her jog.

"We can plan during the ride, for now, we gotta go!" They ran to the Bullheads, only stopping to wait for the doors to open. They jumped inside, surprising the Pilot that was coming out to meet them.

"We need a ride to Vale!" The pilot hesitated in confusion. "Quickly!" That snapped her out of her stupor. She jogged back to the cockpit.

"We are taking off immediately. I'd like to request that everyone buckle up." Hazel sighed in relief that the pilot understood that she wanted to go. When they got situated in their seats, Paris finally turned to her.

"What are we gonna do? It's not like he told us where he was going when he left." Hazel smiled at her.

"He's gotta be in Vale, it's not like he left the city." When Reece and Paris glanced at each other, she raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Sable could be anywhere. We don't know where he was before Beacon, so where are we supposed to look?" Hazel pulled out her scroll and pulled up a map of Vale.

"Everywhere. We're going to split up to look for him, and not stop until one of us has found him-"

"And if he doesn't want to be found?" Paris asked.

Hazel smiled. "Well, I'm not giving him much of a choice."

* * *

"They left only moments ago." Ozpin nodded silently, though she couldn't see him behind his chair as he looked out at the City, a Bullhead tiny in the distance. He turned back to her.

"Thank you for coming to me, Blake." The teacher nodded. She had come straight to Ozpin when she heard about the boy that had left. He had asked for all information that came up from them. Not much it, seemed, other than a few select interesting events that had transpired. Advanced Gun Training, actions of loyalty to each other, and now the disappearance of their leader.

"If you don't mind me asking, sir. I was wondering why you wanted information of this Team." Even after all these years working for the man, she still found herself questioning his actions. A light smile played across his lips, as if he expected her to ask.

"Team SPHR is an interesting group to say the least. Only one of the four of them graduated from any Combat school on Remnant, much less attended them. The others sought out individual and unique ways to become as strong as they are today. Although I oversaw the grouping process, you know it was in no way my decision to put these four together." Yes, she knew about that. Ozpin had meant for the four of them to end up with entirely different teams, only two positioned to be together. When they had found that Team SPHR had come to be instead, it was a bit of a surprise.

"Yes, they seemed different to me, especially the boy, Sable." She brought up his records on her Scroll. "Completely anonymous besides a single letter of recommendation. No training in Combat or anything else. Literally a shadow." She glanced up at Ozpin. "Why did you admit him to the school?" He smiled at her.

"The same reason I admitted the Sword of Beacon and your old leader. I saw potential. Now, he didn't meet many of the regular requirements to apply to be a student here, but that's where the most powerful Hunters come from. The Unique, the Uncommon." He pulled an envelope from his desk and placed it on the table. It had been opened and read already, wrinkled a bit, as if he had had it for a long time.

"This mismatched group came together and fit like pieces of a puzzle. Now, does that sound familiar to you?" Blake's face reddened in embarrassment. Of course she should know. She was a part of the last group that this had happened to.

"I see. May I ask one last question?" Ozpin smiled.

"Blake, you've been at my school for 23 years. You should know by now that you can ask me anything."

"What are you expecting this team to accomplish?" She asked. Ozpin watched her for a moment before standing up, moving to the window.

"I don't know, Blake, but I have a bad feeling." He was silent for a few minutes before turning back to her. "And it's nothing to disregard. Peace is a beautiful thing, Miss Belladonna, but it will not last."

* * *

They walked out of the Bullhead and on to the busy streets together.

"So we all know where we're going?" Paris nodded.

"I'm heading to the suburbs, going to see if he's anywhere there." She said.

"I'll be downtown, main city. I'll be checking shops and apartments." Reece said. Hazel nodded. They knew what their jobs were.

"I'll go to Southern Vale. I'll be the safest there with my Semblance." Southern Vale was well known for crime. Most of the population of criminals were hiding out there. "Alright, let's go."

They all walked in different directions, heading to their assigned parts of the city. Hazel made a beeline for the Subway.

* * *

She stepped onto the platform about half an hour later, already looking around for him.

 _Sable?_ She knew something that the other two didn't, and she planned to use it to her advantage. He said he could hear her clear as day, so let's see how far away she had to be for him to hear her. She paused to look around at the steps up to the streets, to see if he was there, but when nobody approached her, she moved on.

She continued this act as she walked the streets of Southern Vale. Every once and a while, she'd stop, call his name in her mind, then keep moving when she didn't see him. As she looked around, she saw old and destroyed buildings all over the place. Broken down shops, barely standing between the buildings. The people were all seemingly dangerous, whether it was a group of large men and Faunus standing around in groups, or single men walking around. She often noticed a large bulge coming from the pockets of some of the men, so she steered clear of them.

 _Sable, come out._ She stopped, looked around for a few moments, but once again, there was no response. Hazel walked down many of the alleys she passed, randomly walking down streets. She had never been to this part of town, so she had no idea where she was going, and she was too afraid to ask anybody for directions or help.

Hazel turned down a road that seemed a little more reinforced, despite being deep in Southern Vale. Like an oasis in a sea of desert. She continued down the road until she came to a small cul-de-sac. There were a couple destroyed apartment buildings, one literally just a pile of rubble in the lot, and a couple of nicer looking shops. A barbershop, a shoemaker's shop, A garage, and a small convenience store. An old man was standing outside the shoemaker shop, polishing the window, and there was a man smoking outside the garage. When he noticed Hazel was looking at him, he waved, giving her a smile. She smiled and waved back. These people seemed golden compared to the rest of the neighborhood.

She then turned to the old cobbler, walking over to him. He appeared to be humming a light tune as he polished his window.

"Excuse me." Hazel said in the sweetest voice she could muster. The man turned around quickly, just noticing she was there. He gave her a warm smile, wrinkles around his eyes that signified that he smiled a lot.

"How can I help you, young lady? Need your shoes fixed?" He glanced down at her sneakers, but looked back up when she shook her head.

"No, thank you. I was actually wondering if you had seen a boy my age pass through here. He's wearing a black leather jacket, and probably has his sword attached to his hip." The old man smiled knowingly.

"Does the sword have an obsidian center in the blade?" Hazel nodded slowly. He smiled happily, turning to the mechanic.

"Harvey, get over here! She's here about Sable!" The man smiled when he heard that, throwing down the cigarette to walk over to them. He spoke to her as he came near.

"You're here about Sable? Well, that means he must be back in town!" The man had spoken in a deep country accent. The two men smiled at each other right as a hand appeared on Hazel's shoulder.

"I'll take it from here, guys." All of them turned to see Sable standing behind Hazel. She smiled in bliss when she saw him, happy to have finally found him. He was looking at the two men, who were smiling at him.

"Harvey, Lacius." Sable said in a calm voice, as if greeting co workers.

"Hello, Sable." The old man, Lacius, said happily. It was as if neither of them had seen him in years. Sable looked around the shops to see several other people in the windows, looking out at him, preparing to come out to say hi. He quickly turned to Hazel, and guided her behind him, to one of the less destroyed apartment buildings.

"Come on." She barely made a sound as he walked her through the doors of the apartment building and to the stairs. They walked a flight of stairs before Sable opened the door to the second floor. Inside was a huge open room, obviously not renovated in years. In the far corner, next to a couple large windows, was a large mattress on the floor. Next to it was a small dresser with a pair of pants and a shirt laid lazily on top of it. The other side of the room was the impressive part. There was a long line of weapons going from one side of the room to the other, all lined up perfectly on the wall. There were weapons from the smallest knives to the largest guns. There was even a Long Range Sniper! Hazel looked around the room for a moment in confusion before she turned back to Sable in realization.

"You're homeless." Sable stared at her for a second before nodding.


	10. Chapter 10: The Black Past

The two of them stood beside the window, looking down at the road. In the middle of the street was Lacius and Harvey, as well as 3 other adults. Sable closed the blinds quietly as he backed into the darkness of the room.

"I could hear you from a mile away, trying to find me, calling out my name. I kept watch at the window in case you found your way here." Hazel shook her head as she knitted her eyebrows.

"Why didn't you tell us about this?" He looked away.

"I didn't want you to pity me." Hazel sighed tiredly.

 _Oh, Sable. This doesn't change anything._ He looked up at her.

"Does it? What will the others say when they find out? I never worked to go to Beacon, I was just accepted." Hazel shook her head and took his hand into hers.

 _They won't care just as much as I don't. You're our leader and we respect you._ He watched her warily.

"You seem much more accepting of my Semblance now." He said.

"Yes. I was wrong to send you away that night, I was just scared." He nodded.

"Scared of me, I know." She shook her head as she tried to get eye contact with him.

"Scared of what I thought you had heard." She looked out the window through the cracks in the blinds. "But after thinking about it, I don't care." He stared at her warily.

"You don't care." She nodded.

 _I don't care._ He was staring at her in amazement. "Now, why don't you tell me about how you ended up here." She motioned her hand to their rudy surroundings. He stared for a moment before nodding. He motioned for her to sit next to him on the ground next to the window, just enough light to see each other.

"I've been here for as long as I can remember…"

* * *

Lacius finished up repairing the souls of his latest customer's boots. He quickly tied off the last stitch in the machine before placing them on the rack next to the door, ready for pick up. He then looked out the window to see the light of midday coming down outside. He watched the sky for a moment before he noticed the boy. He looked down at the road to see a small boy walking down the street. His hair was a mess, his clothes taters of what they used to be. There was a tourniquet around his left arm from his pant leg, holding blood from a scabbed up wound. He stumbled down the street, watching his surroundings carefully, but he didn't notice the man watching him from the large window.

He slowly continued down the street until he found himself at the doors of a large, old hotel. Lacius knew the place was abandoned years ago, so when he watched the boy walk inside, he didn't know what to think. Slowly, he walked out of his store and walked over to barbershop just across the street. When he opened the door, the woman behind the counter smiled happily.

"Lacius, what do you need?" The two of them had known each other for a long time, as well as the Mechanic nearby, Harvey. The couple running the convenience store had moved in about a year ago, but were accepted into the community all the same. He pointed out to the street.

"Veronica, Did you see that boy?" She knitted her eyebrows.

"A boy?" He nodded.

"Yes, a young homeless boy just walked down our street and went to the hotel." She joined him at the door to look at the large hotel at the end of the street. They were silent for a moment.

"What are we supposed to do?" He shook his head.

"I don't know, I never had kids!" She looked around the street to see that no potential customers were around before turning back to the man.

"Let's go talk to the Johnsons. They'll know what to do." He agreed, closing up the shop to go to the convenience store. When they walked in, they were greeted by a man stocking a shelf.

"Hey, guys. What can we do for you?" Veronica looked at Lacius, expecting him to speak.

"We were wondering if you two might know what to do if there was a small homeless boy that just took up residence in the old hotel?" The man raised his eyebrows.

"There's a-?" Lacius nodded. He turned behind him to the back of the store.

"Chelsea, could you come here for a second!" He yelled back. They heard a yell from the back of confirmation before a young woman walked out of the back and to the aisle. She was four months pregnant.

"Oh, we have visitors!" She walked over to join her husband. "What's up?" Jim, her husband, responded.

"Apparently a young boy just moved into the old hotel."

"What?" She asked. She turned to the cobbler. "How old was he?" He shrugged.

"Couldn't have been older than 7." She nodded.

"So what are we going to do? Call the police to find his parents?" Lucius turned to look at the hotel before shaking his head.

"No, I think we should talk to him first." He turned to the others as he started for the door. "Let me go and speak with him, I'll be right back." He walked out the door and headed straight for the old building. He opened the door slowly, hoping not to scare him.

"Hello?" He called into the large room. When he got no response, he treaded his way across the large room to the stairs, going up them slowly. "You can come out, I won't hurt you." When he got no response again, he opened up the door to the second floor, looking in carefully.

"Hello?" He turned when a small voice called out.

"What do you want?" He saw the boy sitting in the corner of the room, watching him with large eyes. He felt a wave of pity for this boy pass over him. He whimpered slightly, covering his ears.

"I just want to help you." He looked up slowly from his arm.

"Help me?" Lacius nodded slowly.

* * *

"And done!" The boy, now ten years old, was standing over his accomplishment in the mechanic's garage. Harvey looked up from the car he was working on to walk over to the boy. He looked over Sable's shoulder as he saw what he had created, to see blueprints. Normally these blueprints are for car models or parts, but on this one was a large sword. It was intricately designed and beautiful, despite only being drawn in pencil. _What the hell?_

"I know it's not what I was supposed to be planning, but when I saw it in my mind, I couldn't help but start working on it!"

"Working on it? This is a garage, my boy, not an blacksmithery." When the boy looked down in sadness, folding up the blueprints, Harvey bit his lip. He had been in the community for the past couple years of his life. Even though they couldn't find his parents, he refused to let anybody take care of him. The only way they could let him legally stay was if he had a guardian looking over him. Technically, that was Lucius, but the entire group took care of him. He stayed in that old apartment building, worked at the convenience store to get money, and was tutored from Harvey, Lacius, and Veronica on various subjects. Technically, Harvey was supposed to be teaching him life skills right then, but more often than not, their sessions turned into engineering lessons.

"How about this-" The boy looked up at him with curious eyes. "-I'll talk around in the city to see if I can find a good blacksmith to teach you what you need to learn in order to make that sword of yours." Sable scrunched up his nose.

"In the city? Why can't one of you guys teach me how to make the sword?" Harvey laughed.

"Because none of us know how to make swords either." The boy looked down in thought before nodding his head.

"Alright, I'd like to learn very much. Thank you." With that, he was out the door. Harvey walked to the open garage door to watch him quickly walk to his building, the blueprints in hand. The boy rarely asked anything of the group here, trying his hardest to live his own life, so it was strange to do something for him. Harvey slowly returned to the car he was working on. The Battery and muffler needed to be replaced, and the tires were completely balled out. He'd be here for hours before he could search for a Blacksmithery.

* * *

"I'm guessing you want the usual, honey?" Veronica stood behind Sable as he sat in the large chair in front of the mirror. She was playing with his hair, imagining the crazy things she could do to the long dark locks. He nodded.

"Just cut it up to my chin." She nodded, starting to work on the large mound. She spoke calmly as she started to water down the boy's head.

"You know, you'll probably need to start going to a real school pretty soon." He glanced up at her through the mirror.

"What for? I don't have a reason to go to public school, and I know enough from you guys." She shook her head.

"Have you been studying those textbooks?" He had gone into the city one day and returned with four large textbooks in his arms on various subjects. He tried to nod before she swat his head, telling him to keep still.

"Yes, I finished reading them about a month ago." She turned his chair around to look at her.

"You completely read four high school textbooks?" He shrugged.

"I got them last year." She turned him back to the mirror, returning to cutting his hair.

"You know that you're the only fourteen year old in Vale that would buy four textbooks just to read them all the way through, right?" He smiled lightly before pushing it back.

"Of course, Veronica. Just like I'm the only fourteen year old with enough weapons to fuel a small army in my room." She smiled and laughed.

"Yeah, just like that!" She cut back his bangs from falling into his eyes.

"You know what you're gonna want to do in the future, yet?" Sable stopped to think before answering.

"Not really. Why can't I just stay here, keep my job at Johnson's?"

"Because eventually you're going to have to move out of that building of yours and go to real school." He shook his head quickly.

"Out of the question. There's no way I'm going to some school full of people." Veronica frowned quietly. The people in the community had learned about Sable's Semblance a long while ago, and it had been a tense subject for everybody.

"Sable, you've trained yourself to control that with Lacius, right?" He started to shake his head before the women swatted the back of his head again.

"Well, we've been training, but I wouldn't say that I've controlled it yet." Sable only felt comfortable talking about his Semblance with Veronica and Lacius. He completely avoided the subject with everybody else. "It's hard, Veronica." She nodded her head.

"I know, Sable." He frowned.

"You don't though. You don't know what it's like having everybody else in your head." She frowned, continuing to snip at his hair in silence. She knew Sable knew that she felt sorry for him, so she didn't need to talk about it. After a couple more minutes, Veronica pulled back her scissors and stood at his side.

"So whaddaya think?" He looked in the mirror, shaking his head back and forth a bit to shake his hair.

"Good." He stood up from the chair after she pulled the sheet off of him. He wouldn't meet her eyes when he spoke. "Thank you."

She smiled at him. It had been harder and harder for him to thank people. He knew it just as well as everybody else did. "It's my job, Sable, but you're welcome." He nodded just before the bell at the door jingled.

"Sable!" He turned just as the seven year old girl flung herself to hug him. He smiled affectionately as he hugged her back. The two of them were close over the years since Beth was born. He had baby sitted for her countless times for the Johnsons so they could go out. He was practically her older brother.

"Hey, Beth. How've you been?" She pulled back and waved her finger at him accusingly.

"Where have you been for the past week?! I haven't even seen you!" He laughed comfortably.

"I've been busy with smithing." He looked over the steaming girls shoulder at her mother, who was standing in the doorway, smiling at them.

"Hello, Mrs. Johnson." She nodded at him.

"Hey, Sable." She looked past him at Veronica. "We just came by to get Elizabeth's hair cut." Veronica nodded, moving to the counter with the mother. Beth looked up at Sable happily.

"When is the next time you'll visit me?" She asked.

"When I have the time to stop by, which I promise is soon." He wasn't lying when he said he was busy. His blacksmithing tutor had been working him hard since their first lesson on firearms, and he actually had to be there in about an hour. Sable kneeled down next to her.

"How about when I get home tonight, I'll stop by and play with you?" She smiled happily before getting real serious, looking around suspiciously.

 _When will you get back?_ He laughed, looking at the adults quickly before responding.

"Around five. We'll have plenty of time." The girl thought of Sable's Semblance as their own personal secret code. It always enjoyed Sable to find a playful way to use his curse with the girl.

 _Alright, I'll see you then._ He nodded happily at her.

"Alright, Beth. Are you ready?" The two of them looked at Veronica, who was standing at the chair ready for her. Sable turned to her, ruffling her the hair on her head before brushing past her.

"Five o'clock, alright?" She nodded at him as he left the store before running over to the chair.

* * *

"What do you mean, you signed me up?" Sable, now nearly 17, stood on the other side of the counter from Lacius in his shop. He pushed the letter to Sable across the counter happily.

"You needed to leave this little town of ours eventually, so I thought I'd put you on a worthy course. I sent in a letter of recommendation through an old friend, and you were accepted to be tested to train at Beacon Academy! This is HUGE Sable!" He frowned at him as he picked up the letter, pulling the contents from the already open envelope. The letter admitted him for the entrance exam in 4 months. He put the letter back down on the counter.

"What if I don't want to go. I live my own life-"

"And it's a fine life. But if you want to actually be someone important, then you'll go train." Sable turned to the window quietly.

"Lacius, I create these weapons, but I barely know how to use half of them. They're mainly for show." Sable couldn't see his guardians sly smile.

"So you're saying those lessons from you teacher never taught you to use this?" There was a loud clunk on the counter behind Sable, causing him to turn around curiously. On the table was a long package in brown packing paper. He slowly picked it up and unravelled the paper slowly.

 _You deserve this, accept the gift and train to hunt Grimm. Please, Sable, please._ Sable ignored the thoughts nonchalantly as he opened the gift, revealing a longsword in a scabbard inside. He looked up at Lacius with a surprised look.

"How did you get this?" He looked the boy dead in the eye.

"I went in your home and took it. Many years ago, you created blueprints, and then later this magnificent weapon. After 3 years just sitting in dust on the shelf, I decided to send it to your teacher, who agreed to sharpen it and ready it for combat." He pointed at the sword expectantly. "Hunting with that sword was what you were born to do. You were always a fighter, even as a small child, you never gave up. Now instead of sitting in your broken tower, how about you stand up and fight?" Sable stared at the man silently. He was surprised to say the least. He's always been nagged about his future, but something so blunt like this was very strange to him.

 _Please take the sword, Sable._ He bit his lip before nodding.

"I'll give it thought. In four months, if I don't change my mind by then, I'll go to this entrance exam, for you if for the others. And after I've become a Master Huntsman, I'll return to this little town of yours and show you what I've become." With that, he briskly turned to the door, his own creation newly remade in his hand. He stopped just at the door to look back at the man over his shoulder.

"Thank you, Lacius." He was out the door before the old man could even think about the words.

* * *

"And about 6 months later I went to Beacon, and then I came here." The two of them had been sitting there for what seemed to be hours. Sable just told his story as Hazel listened silently, and now that his story was over, he was looking at her expectedly. Hazel bit her lip as she stared back at him.

"Thank you, Sable. I just… Thank you." He nodded silently. For a few minutes neither of them said anything. It was broken when Sable stood up.

"I guess… I guess I should introduce you to everyone." Hazel stared at him before standing up hastily.

"Sable, you don't have to do that if you don't want to." He nodded.

"Yes, but you want to meet them, so I'll take you on the tour." Hazel watched him for a moment before nodding. He took her back down the stairs and outside. When she got outside, Hazel noticed that the sun was starting to fall in the sky, marking that it was around three or four o'clock. She followed Sable to the old shoemaker's shop and inside. When they walked in, they were greeted by five adults standing or sitting around the shop talking. There was also a young girl sitting at the counter with a book in her hand. The five men and women ceased their talking when they walked in, staring at them as they stood in the doorway. There was silence for a moment. The girl finally looked up from her book, noticing the silence to see the two of them. She was the one to break the silence.

"Sable?" She quickly jumped down from the stool she was sitting on, the book left on the counter as she walked over to him for a hug. He smiled awkwardly at her as he returned the hug.

"Hey, Beth." It was not long before the greetings were among the adults as well. They variously stood up to greet Hazel, until it was only the old man left. He stood up crookedly to walk over to Sable, to put out a hand with a smile. Sable returned the shake happily.

"Lacius, you were more than right." He glanced to his right at Hazel, who was standing awkwardly at the doorway still. "I've found where I was meant to be." The man gave Hazel another look before nodding happily.

"I knew you'd find your place." Sable released his grip on the man's hand to beckon Hazel over. The group was looking at her quietly as she joined Sable. He put his hand on her back as he greeted her to the group.

"This is Hazel, my Partner at Beacon. Hazel this is Veronica." She put up a hand to wave a greeting from where she was sitting in one of the waiting chairs. She was about as old as the cobbler. "Mr. and ." He directed his hand to a couple standing at the counter the girl was reading at. They were leaned up against it earlier, but were upright for the greeting. The woman put out a hand to her warmly.

"Hello, Hazel. It's nice to meet you." She returned the shake happily. Sable put his hand on the girl's shoulder, who was still standing beside him closely under his arm.

"And this is their daughter, Beth." The girl waved happily to her. She was around 10 years old, with blonde hair that went down to a little below her shoulders. He looked at Harvey, who was leaning back against the far wall, and Lacius, who had returned to his seat in a desk chair that was placed beside the mechanic.

"And you've already met Harvey and Lacius." Harvey smiled, moving forward to shake her hand.

"Briefly, before you dragged her away." After he shook her hand, he took a step back and smiled at Sable proudly. "Good to know you finally found a girlfriend." Sable looked down, embarrassed as they all laughed. Hazel quickly corrected the man, her face red.

"We're not together." Lacius raised his eyebrows.

"Really? Sable, I thought we taught you better." Sable quickly glared at him as they all laughed again.

"Alright, alright. I know about all the jokes, come on." He earned happy smiles from all the adults. They all seemed happy to have him here. He looked down at the girl clinging to his waist before looking at the others seriously.

"It was nice visiting all of you, but we should probably return to Beacon." He glanced at Hazel. "I'm guessing Reece and Paris are searching for me as well." Her eyes widened when she realized, but she couldn't respond before he nodded. "Yeah, I thought so." He turned back to the others. "We need to let them know that Hazel found me." He stepped back for the door, Hazel following him.  
"Remember to visit me again, Sable!" Beth had separated from Sable, returning to her parents. He smiled down at her.

"I will." She shook her head quickly.

"No, promise!" After a second, he nodded.

"I promise I will come back to visit." His eyes swept over everybody before he left with Hazel.


	11. Update: Info on Upcoming Work

Hey, guy's. It's been a while, huh? Like five months a while, but that's not important right now! Now that school is back in session, I have found myself with an excess amount of free time between classes, and lunch, and such, so I have decided to take this story back up! Yes, that's right readers! Courage, Bravery, Integrity is coming back! I spoke about doing three prequel stories about Zachary, Amber, and Magenta a while back, and I've been thinking about it again now. I've been dying to find something to write about(Other than SPHR, which has been my side story lately) that can quench my thirst for a real story, with real plot, and real characters! For now, I will be spending time starting up(And possibly just binge writing until I finish it) Intellect, which would be Magenta's backstory. This'll play into her entire life before her entrance into the story during near the end of what Canon I have right now. Amber and Zachary's backstories(Isolation and Rejection) will probably come along when I finish this. That is, if Volume 3 hasn't come out yet, in which case I will have to continue writing my Canon with that. Either way, this is what I'll be working on right now. PM or review if you have any questions regarding any plans I have, or anything else.

That's all I really have to say for now, so Peace Out!


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